Time Flows Like Ink
by GwendolynStacy
Summary: After a fuinjutsu experiment gone wrong, Minato is yanked into a future where his family is dead, his team fell apart and the Uchiha were slaughtered. With the defective seal burning in his palm, Minato struggles to stay afloat in a Konoha that isn't his.
1. Chapter 1

**Time Flows Like Ink**

 **Summary:** After a fuinjutsu experiment gone wrong, Minato is yanked into a future where his family is dead, his team fell apart and the Uchiha were slaughtered. With the defective seal burning in his palm, Minato struggles to stay afloat in a Konoha that isn't his.

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

If he weren't so frustrated about his latest fuinjutsu experiment blowing up in his face, Minato would have probably been more worried about the burning sensation on his skin.

And no matter what Kushina would say, he was not pouting. Minato did not pout. He was above that, and completely justified in his frustration when it was the fifth time he had unsuccessfully tried to reach a breakthrough for his most recent project.

At least his hair was still unscathed. This time.

Of course, the mountain of new responsibilities did not help. Being Hokage was exciting and had been his ambition since childhood, but it meant far less free time for his current research and projects. Kushina had even offered to take the title herself, "if you're so much of a nerd that you'd rather stick your nose in books all day".

The ongoing war put a damper on it too. It wasn't that Minato had underestimated the weight of the position, but inheriting it in this kind of political situation had to be the least desirable way.

A look at the sun and Minato huffed, deciding he would have to give up for the evening. He was half tempted to ask Kushina if her offer still stood.

He reached for his locations seals to transport himself into the village, pausing to choose his destination. He contemplated if it was worth another of Kushina's pranks to teleport straight into their bedroom, but decided against it. He was still picking glitter out of his hair from last time and didn't want to imagine what boredom made her come up with this time.

Strictly speaking, he wasn't supposed to teleport over the village borders at all, unless for emergencies. But it was so much easier than checking in with the guards each time, especially since their objections had gotten louder since he'd become Hokage.

"Hokage-sama, please!" Raidō had said after one time too many, exasperated and struggling with the new formality of addressing him as kage. "You can't sneak out of the village like this. At least take somebody with you!"

He had felt like a child being scolded, rather than the new Hokage, and Kushina had laughed hard enough to risk pulling a muscle. So far she had refused to let the whole thing go.

Decision made, Minato picked a seal relatively close to their home. He stumbled upon impact, catching himself on the nearest brick wall with a painful reminder of the seal burned into his palm.

He hissed, snatching away his hand and steadying himself with a step backwards. That shouldn't have happened. His landings hadn't been this wobbly since he'd perfected his technique years ago.

He raised his throbbing hand, taking a closer look. Thinking back, he should have probably done that the second his experiment had backfired.

The palm of his hand was tender and sore, the newly developed seal – defective, since he definitely hadn't planned for it to end up decorating his skin – scorched into it with black ink. Behind the burning he could feel an odd tugging sensation.

Maybe the seal had affected his technique? It shouldn't have been able to interfere, but experiments with fuinjutsu always held risks.

Kushina would help him figure it out. She would surely appreciate the distraction, as often as she moaned about not being able to do anything while pregnant.

He choose a longer path to their home, more likely to be deserted at this time. He wasn't in the mood to deal with people for the rest of the day, no one other than Kushina, that was.

She'd probably complain about how long he'd been gone, leaving her alone and bored at home. With Mikoto away on a mission, her best friend (Her ex? Her unofficial second spouse? Whatever the two of them were to each other; Minato sometimes felt like the Uchiha matriarch was closer to his wife than he was.) was unavailable to keep her company.

He was passing more people than he had expected in this part of the village.

Minato blinked, slowing down as he spotted a building he had never seen before. Was he that out of it?

And had that market district been there before?

He kept walking as if he hadn't noticed anything off. A silent disruption of his chakra flow told him that he wasn't dealing with a simple genjutsu. People had already seen him; whatever was wrong, he would try to look oblivious for as long as possible.

Another apartment building that definitely hadn't been there a few hours ago.

What other option was there? The illusion had to be strong, for him to be unable to dispel it.

He tensed with every person he came across, subtle and unapparent for anyone looking at him. Not that anyone seemed to pay him much attention. There was a reason he'd left his gear at home. Curious eyes tended to slip off of civilian clothes like they made their wearer invisible.

It was starting to get late, and shopkeepers were packing up their wares, preparing to retire for the day.

A young boy was being scolded by an old lady. He must have been a troublemaker: The stand next to them was a mess, half squashed fruit and vegetables lying everywhere.

He kept walking, kept his head low, his chakra ready to utilize. He realized he could only reach about half of the seals he had placed around the village.

Minato noticed his pursuers immediately. He paused, choosing his next course of action. His brain told him the most rational option was to flee and collect more intel.

He ignored it and leaped onto a fairly high building, putting distance between him and the civilians and leaving the area around him open and exposed. He recognized one of the chakra signatures.

"Genma," he said, and hoped everything would clear up soon. "What's going on?"

"Funny," came his answer, in a voice far deeper than he had expected. Had Minato not felt the spike of chakra that betrayed the other shinobi's willingness to fight, his facade might have broken at the sharpness of Genma's words. "I was about to ask the same."

Minato tensed, facing Genma and two ANBU shinobi. Genma, who was his friend and his guard. Who was careless and calm, always a smirk and a joke on his lips.

Genma, who was not the teenager he remembered teaching a variation of his Thunder God technique to. He was looking at a man, broad shoulders and sharp features and looking older than Minato himself. And yet, it was so unmistakably Genma. He recognize the face, recognized the senbon, and most importantly, recognized his chakra.

His voice had been nearly void of emotion. He was still calm, still confident; but ice lined his words, made them ragged and cold.

"Genma, I don't-" Minato tried to take a step forwards, but froze as all shinobi took fighting stances. His face hardened and he slipped into his role as Hokage effortlessly as though he'd been born for it. "Shinobi, explain. Now."

It nearly worked. He saw Genma – and the shinobi behind him – straighten up at the command, instinct telling them to obey. Genma caught himself in time. Why he refused to acknowledge Minato as his superior, he didn't know. Another question to add to his steadily growing pile.

He would find out soon.

"How dare you," Genma whispered, and Minato knew for certain that he was ignoring protocol. "How dare you wear his face. Steal his voice."

The implications of that statement were so massive, it took Minato a moment to process. "You think I'm an impersonator."

Genma laughed at the surprise in his voice, strangled and humorless. "Do you really need it laid out for you?"

"If you would." Minato watched as Genma fought with himself, his mouth restless as if he chewed on something bitter.

He spit out the words like poison. "Minato is dead."

Silence.

The seal burned in his palm, and Genma's eyes bored into him like ice shards.

Minato didn't know what to say. What was anyone supposed to say, in this situation?

He tried – and failed – again to dispel a genjutsu. How easy this situation could be solved, if it turned out to be an illusion meant to unbalance him.

But it wasn't. There was no genjutsu, and Genma believed what he was saying. Minato could tell.

So what did that leave him with?

"Bring me to your leader," he said, and wondered who would be waiting in the room that had been his only hours prior.

* * *

Sarutobi was the Hokage and Minato was dead. That's what the discussion in the Hokage's office boiled down to.

They asked him questions only very few people knew the answers to.

They argued.

They brought in a sensor, who couldn't disprove his identity.

They argued.

They made him show them one of his signature moves, the Rasengan, under strict supervision and threats to his life should he step out of place.

They argued.

In the end they summoned a Yamanaka and let him repeat his claims, proving he wasn't lying.

And yet again, they argued.

Minato took it all with a stoic facade and minimal input himself, mentally reeling from the picture that unraveled in front of his own eyes.

Sarutobi looked old. Everybody he knew looked older. Genma was no longer a gangly teenager. Shikaku had two new scars slicing his face. But Sarutobi had been old when Minato had last seen him. Now? The former Hokage looked ancient, lines and wrinkles covering his face from age and years of worry.

Over ten years, was what they told him. He had been dead for over ten years, had missed a decade of Konoha's history. Had skipped it? Minato didn't know what to think.

Sarutobi was as silent as Minato, letting the other shinobi bicker and argue over what they should do with him.

"It can't be him. How are we even considering this?!"

"All of our tests confirmed it. All of them. What else do you want?"

"An explanation would be nice, for the start. And isn't it just convenient that he doesn't have one?"

"What I want to know is how he got into the village in the first place. None of the guards spotted him until he was well beyond the village borders."

"Oh please, so he's a skilled infiltrator instead of a regular one. It's not that big a leap!"

"Why don't we just ask him?", Shikaku chimed in, and the room fell silent.

Minato couldn't help but feel uncomfortable under the piercing sets of eyes directed on him. "I used one of my Thunder God seals to teleport."

That set them off again, and Minato nearly wanted to sigh.

"Thunder God seals! Are you hearing this? I don't know why we're even listening-"

"This is ridiculous. Bring back the Yamanaka for a proper interrogation, that's what we should have done from the start-"

"Enough." Sarutobi didn't raise his voice, and yet every person in the room fell silent. His eyes were focused solely on Minato. "You've been quiet."

Minato met his gaze head-on. He needed a moment to sort out his priorities. One question won out over Kushina. Barely.

"The war. How is our situation?"

Sarutobi looked at him with a half hidden smile. "The war is over. It ended over ten years ago. Konoha is at peace."

Minato waited.

Sarutobi chuckled, and leaned back in his seat. "You're too smart for your own good. But that's all the details I am able to give you, as long as there is any doubt left that you're not who you claim to be."

His mouth tightened. "At peace" could mean anything from "united with the other villages in friendship and rainbows" to "hanging by a thread from the next declaration of war".

Another question was burning on his tongue, so he let the matter go. For now.

"Where is Kushina?" Now that he knew to look for it, the absence of her unique beacon of chakra was disturbingly clear.

The shinobi around him were sharing glances, and Sarutobi's eyes slipped to his office table. Nobody answered, and something in Minato's chest tightened.

If he was dead in this older, bizarre version of Konoha, did that mean-

Could it mean-

No.

"Where is she?" he repeated, and his voice was bound tightly enough to burst.

Shikaku stepped forward, looking past Minato and towards Sarutobi. "It's public information. He could ask anyone."

The old Hokage sighed, but gave his approval with a nod.

Shikaku met his gaze. "I'm sorry."

They told him about the attack. They told him about the Kyūbi's rampage, about it taking Kushina and part of Konoha with it. About Minato sacrificing himself, saving the village.

They left out the details, Minato could tell. But he couldn't bring himself to care, because why would he when Kushina was dead, she was dead and he would never see her again-

But Kushina hadn't been the only family he had.

"What about our son?" Minato's hands were clenched to fists, his desperate attempt to hold onto something. Anything. Because depending on the answer he would receive- "Kushina was pregnant. The baby, what- Where is our son?"

Nobody looked him in the eyes, and Minato could feel his chest caving in. This couldn't be real. It couldn't. He gasped for breath, felt light-headed and dizzy. Nothing felt real. This was all some dumb, horrible illusion.

He wanted to ask about his team, but he didn't want to hear the answer. Everything in this version of Konoha was wrong, and he didn't want to hear more.

It was too much.

Shikaku realized what was about to happen a second too late. "Minato, don't-"

Minato used one of his remaining seals and vanished.

* * *

A/N: This story isn't canon compliant. I've taken the liberty to change canon events - and the canon timeline - however it fits the story best. (I tend to see canon more like a suggestion, anyway.) It's nothing huge, but if you get annoyed by details like that, be warned.

My betas are the wonderful **To Mockingbird** , **PyrothTenka** and **Igornerd**! Additionally, **To Mockingbird** came up with the amazing title! :D

Let me know what you think!

~Gwen


	2. Chapter 2

**Time Flows Like Ink**

 **Summary:** After a fuinjutsu experiment gone wrong, Minato is yanked into a future where his family is dead, his team fell apart and the Uchiha were slaughtered. With the defective seal burning in his palm, Minato struggles to stay afloat in a Konoha that isn't his.

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

His and Kushina's home was gone. Not gone per se, but different. Changed. Other people lived there, had for years, and none of their belongings would be left.

All their memories, lost.

Minato was slumped against the cushions on the couch, staring straight ahead. He would have to go back at one point. Even if he didn't, they would find him. It was just… He had needed a moment for himself.

Kushina wasn't the only one on his mind. He'd been told that he had saved the village, back when the Kyūbi had broken out. But was that the entire truth? Minato knew about the risks of a jinchūriki giving birth, had discussed the issue with Kushina at length. They had developed contingency plans in case of something going wrong, but didn't this prove that they hadn't done enough?

Something must have caused the Kyūbi to break out, and Kushina being pregnant in his time could not have been a coincidence. People had died in the attack, people other than Kushina and Minato himself. If he hadn't done enough to stop it, their blood was on his hands.

By the time he felt a presence enter the apartment, he only felt numb.

"They told you about me?" Minato asked.

A pause. "They had a feeling you'd come here."

He'd been prepared for it this time, and yet Minato was taken aback at the too deep sounding voice. It went silent, neither of them sure what to say.

Minato knew he was being stupid, trying to postpone the inevitable. He raised his head, finally looking at his (former?) student.

"You're taller than me!" he burst out, staring at Kakashi in both mortification and shock.

Kakashi blinked, his one visible eye widened. Then, only increasing the bizarreness of the situation, he laughed. Kakashi laughed, as if the sheer disbelief in Minato's voice wouldn't have send his younger self into a rage. "I guess I had to get a growth spurt eventually."

There were other changes. Kakashi wore his headband differently, covering one of his eyes completely. He held himself differently, too. Gone was the strict rigidness of his younger self, gone the tension in his shoulders, the frown making him look constantly annoyed. Kakashi looked more relaxed than his younger self had ever been. The jōnin vest suited him.

He noticed Kakashi was staring, too. "What is it?"

"Nothing, I just." Kakashi looked away. "I never realized how young you were. When you took me as your student."

Minato sat back, stunned. This was just a headache waiting to happen, but Kakashi was older than him now. His student was older than him.

And looking at him like he expected him to vanish any second. "Kakashi?"

"Sorry." Kakashi looked away. "It's been a long time since I've seen you."

Minato didn't know what to say. Something about that sentence felt to fragile, so raw. What had happened to Kakashi while he was gone?

"Do tell," Kakashi said, his voice sounding stilted and slightly forced. "What would you have done if I'd moved and you'd broken into some stranger's apartment instead?"

Oh. Minato could feel a sheepish grin sneaking up, his hand wandering in his hair. He hadn't thought of that. Then again, he had been sort of distracted.

And just like that, his mood was back at rock-bottom.

"Kakashi…" What did he even want to ask? What did he actually want to hear the answer for? "Kushina and I. Did anything of ours survive?"

Kakashi paused, piercing him with his glance and Minato had a hard time reading him. "It really is you, isn't it? How is that even possible?"

Minato shrugged helplessly, raising his hand. "Fuinjutsu experiment gone wrong? I hadn't really had the time to find out." Or the motivation. It was hard to make himself care about _how_ it had happened.

Kakashi's gaze lingered on his burnt palm. He stood. "Wait here."

It didn't take him long to return, holding a lonely and far too small box. "I'm sorry. Most of it got destroyed in the attack."

Minato opened the box with a lump in his throat. This was all that was left of Kushina and his life.

His hot-pink apron.

" _Why are you laughing?_ "

" _N-Nothing! It's nothing! Where did you even get that?_ "

A few prototypes of his custom made kunai.

" _So, how many new trees do we have to plant this time?_ "

" _That's not funny! Just wait until I manage to perfect the technique, I'm so close!_ "

"..."

" _Less than last time. I'm getting better, I swear!"_

Even one of Kushina's maternity dresses had survived.

" _Urgh. Being pregnant sucks. Next time you can carry the baby. I've had enough of this._ "

" _As much as I'd love to do that, I'm afraid that's not how it works, sweetheart._ "

Minato chuckled softly, his eyes suspiciously damp. He waved off Kakashi's hesitant "Sensei?" and continued to look through their things. It really wasn't much.

Oddly enough he felt calmer. Not good in any interpretation of the word, but not as restless. And there were still questions left.

"Kakashi. Where are Obito and Rin?" He held onto one of his old kunai because he had to hold onto _something._

Kakashi took him to the memorial. There was a clench in Minato's gut, but not much more. He had expected it, since everything in this world seemed to be designed to cause him pain. Besides, if his students were there, they would have come with Kakashi to see him.

ANBU were following them, observing from the shadows, but Minato ignored them.

He stared at the memorial stone as he listened to Kakashi's story. Killed, both of them, killed on missions during the war. Minato could feel the guilt and self-loathing radiating off of his student and it was wrong, so wrong, it had to be _his_ fault. Minato hadn't done enough, he hadn't been there, they'd only been children at the time and _why hadn't he been there?_

Kakashi raising his forehead protector was the last straw.

Obito's eye stared back at him, the Sharingan blood-red and a scar slicing through the eyelids above and below it. Obito's eye and Kakashi's guilt, raw and as fresh as if it had happened only days ago.

And it was too much.

Pain burst in his chest like he'd been hit, his throat closing up and aching. His family was dead. Most of his team was too. Kakashi was grieving, hurting beyond imagination and Minato hadn't been there to help him, hadn't been there to stop it-

His eyes prickled and he could feel his hands trembling.

Why hadn't he been there to stop it?

The pain in his chest burned and there was a tugging sensation in his palm.

"Sensei? What's wrong?"

Everything hurt and his hand was burning. There was a yank and Minato fell into nothingness.

* * *

His knees hit the ground with a thud and Minato caught himself just before falling over. He felt faint, his senses dull and sluggish. At least the burning in his hand had stopped.

Minato squinted, trying to clear his head. It reminded him somewhat of his Thunder God technique in its early stages, back when he had still experimented with it. Except it had never activated on its own.

"H-Hokage-sama?"

The ground was swaying under his knees, and he didn't trust himself to stand. He could make out the memorial stone before him, so he hadn't actually moved in place. But where was Kakashi?

"Over here! Hurry up! Hokage-sama, are you alright?"

He could feel shinobi landing beside him. "Y-Yeah…" He staggered to his feet, steadied by a strong grip around his arm. The fog in his head was clearing, but he still couldn't feel Kakashi.

Something was odd.

"WHERE IS HE?!"

That effectively cleared his mind. He would recognize that shouting everywhere. The shinobi around him took a step (or several) back, and the grip around his arm loosened as if whoever was supporting him contemplated the risk of letting him fall in order to get distance between them and the nearing tidal wave.

Minato couldn't blame them.

Fiery red hair filled his vision, wild and framing a furious pair of eyes. Minato's breath got stuck in throat.

"K-Kushina–!"

"Where were you?! Disappearing for two days, what were you even thinking!"

Two days? It had been hours at most. "Kushina–"

"Everyone's been looking for you, Namikaze, do you know how worried I was?! I know–"

"Kushina–"

"–sneak out of the village all the time. The Hokage, alone, outside of the village. During war times! Are you mental?!"

Minato threw his arms around her, and Kushina fell silent. He breathed in her scent, fuinjutsu paper and ink and the paint they had picked for Naruto's bedroom. She smelled like home. Her hair was tied in a messy ponytail, oddly unkempt.

"M-Minato."

Kushina put her arms around him hesitantly and Minato tightened the embrace, holding her close. Kushina was here, she was safe. He never wanted to let go. But he could tell that her patience was running out.

She put her hands on his shoulders, and Minato let her push him away reluctantly.

"Okay. Stop being emotional and start talking. You owe me–" She broke off mid-sentence, staring at him. She must have noticed his tears.

He laughed shakily, not caring that his wife and the ANBU were watching. "It's good to see you, Kushina."

"You weren't gone _that_ long," she grumbled, frowning in both irritation and worry. "What happened?"

One of the ANBU was brave (or reckless) enough to interrupt. "Hokage-sama, Uzumaki-san. Maybe we should escort you to the hospital–"

"You, shut it. He's fine. If he can hug, he can talk. And he will start doing so immediately," she said, piercing Minato with a glare. "Won't you, husband?"

Minato grinned sheepishly, waving off his shinobi. It was great to be back.

* * *

In the end he managed to persuade Kushina to have a little more patience. There was a mass panic in the making and several hysterical council members he had to take care of.

He had to reassure the council that yes, he was back, that no, he was not hurt and no, no hostile activity had taken place against him. His guard detail had worked themselves into a frenzy during his absence, and he could be lucky that his disappearance hadn't reached the public yet. While no one was happy to wait longer for an explanation, Minato insisted on talking privately with his wife first.

Once they finally arrived home, Minato didn't hesitate to tell Kushina everything, starting with the biggest bombshell.

"I went to the future."

Kushina blinked. "The future."

"I know it sounds crazy–"

"Well, that's an understatement."

"–but I was experimenting with my seals–"

"The Thunder God ones?"

"A variation of them, yeah, but–"

"Oh," Kushina said, and her eyes widened like she had come to a sudden realization. "I understand."

"You... do?"

"Of course." She put a consoling hand on his shoulder, a sympathetic look in her eyes. "Look, if you screwed up and teleported out of range of your seals without a way back, that's okay."

"What."

"Really, it happens to the best of us. There's no shame in admitting–"

"But- No! Kushina, please!"

Silence.

"You're serious about this." Kushina paused, holding his glance. "How do you know you weren't put under a genjutsu?"

"It was too elaborate. Disrupting my chakra flow did nothing. And there's this." He held open his palm, showing Kushina the seal.

Her eyes widened as she caught sight of it. She leaped over the back of the couch, snatching a piece of paper from one of the many piles strewn across the house and copied the seal in quick, adept strokes. Finished with that she studied it, murmuring under her breath.

Minato knew better than to interrupt.

After a few minutes she whistled, not taking her eyes off the seal. "Wow. You really screwed up. What was it supposed to do?"

"Nothing. It wasn't finished, I was just experimenting with a few new components." Minato shrugged helplessly. "It just activated on its own."

Kushina hummed, but didn't answer beyond that. Eventually she sighed, putting down the seal. "That's gonna take a while to untangle. And you're supposed to be a prodigy. Anything else I should know?"

"I think it reacted to my Thunder God technique somehow. But other than that…"

"Eh, I'll figure it out. Cleaning up after your mess, you're welcome."

Minato beamed. He knew she would; he had the bestest wife ever.

"But in the meantime," Kushina said, grinning cheerfully, "What does the future look like? Did you throw in the towel yet and let me take over? Come on, tell me!"

Her grin faded at Minato's expression. She took on a more solemn tone. "You cried. When you came back and saw me… You cried."

Minato couldn't suppress the urge and pulled Kushina in for another hug. She complied, wrapping her arms around him without hesiation. He closed his eyes, glad to be close to her. "You weren't there. You died. Both of us did."

"How–?"

"The Kyūbi broke out. They told me we gave our lives to protect the village and stop it."

Kushina let go of him, laying one hand on her belly. Over their unborn son. Minato put his hand over hers, answering the unspoken question in her widened eyes. He was glad she hadn't spoken it out loud.

"What else?"

"Obito and Rin. Both of them. Kakashi was there, but…" The corner of his mouth tugged downwards at the memory. "He was different. Grieving, and blaming himself."

"Minato." Kushina laid her arm around him, resting her head on his shoulder. She could tell that he needed it, and Minato soaked in the comfort of her warmth. With Kushina this close, his memories of the future felt like nothing but a bad dream.

"Well," she said, opting Minato sufficiently comforted. "What are we gonna do about it? Because what you just told me? Not gonna happen." She grinned, flexing her wrists and murder in her eyes.

Bestest. Wife. Ever.

What made it difficult was the short time Minato had spent in the future. Looking back he cursed himself for not asking more questions, asking for more details. But at the time, details had been the last thing he wanted.

"I'll start working on improvements for everything Kyūbi related," Kushina said, already looking over old notes and sketches that were strewn around her on the couch. "It sucks that you didn't pay closer attention, it would be easier if we knew what caused it to break out."

"Actually, about that…" Minato trailed off, frowning down at his palm. "I might have a solution."

"Oh yeah? Spill."

He looked up, raising his hand and showing off the seal. "I can still feel the seal pulling."

Kushina's head snapped up from her notes, her eyes widening. "You mean–?"

"The connection is still there." He paused, hesitating in a strange mix of apprehension and anticipation. "I might be able to go back."

* * *

A/N: Sooo. Surprise? I bet no one expected this :P

Thanks to my betas **Igornerd** , **To Mockingbird** and **PyrothTenka** , check out their stories because all of them are _awesome!_

Don't forget to leave a review! I'm excited to hear what you think! :D Until next time!

~Gwen

PS: Find me on tumblr as **xxgwenstacyxx**


	3. Chapter 3

**Time Flows Like Ink**

 **Summary:** After a fuinjutsu experiment gone wrong, Minato is yanked into a future where his family is dead, his team fell apart and the Uchiha were slaughtered. With the defective seal burning in his palm, Minato struggles to stay afloat in a Konoha that isn't his.

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

There were more things Minato had to take care of. Missions had been completed and assigned while he was gone. Two meetings had been held without him, too important to be postponed. There were major updates about the other villages' movements. Minato had to get up to date and familiarize himself with everything he had missed during the last two days.

War was a busy time for hidden villages and Minato was at the very center of it. He could only be lucky that Sarutobi was taking care of a bunch of his duties and had helped to hold things together while he was gone. The title had passed to Minato only recently, and Sarutobi had agreed to postpone his retirement in order to make the transition easier for him.

Then there was the matter of explaining where he'd been. Kushina and he had decided to keep it quiet for the moment, at least until they had a better understanding of the situation. Besides, both of them had a good idea about what some people would want him to do with that sort of ability, things that Minato was not willing to discuss.

Instead, he had settled on a vague but believable excuse that wasn't so much a lie as it was leaving out the core information.

"A training accident," Fugaku said, repeating his words stoically. There were chuckles and sighs of exasperation all around the table, and even a muffled "Again?"

Inoichi was openly laughing. "At least nothing was on fire this time."

"Does that mean you've been experimenting with your teleportation seals again?" Chōza sounded genuinely curious.

Minato gave a sheepish grin, mildly regretting his insistence on a casual setting. "A variation of them, yeah. Fuinjutsu can be unpredictable."

There were questions for details that Minato improvised with ease and soon he was being informed of the less essential developments during his absence. The gossip.

Over the course of the conversation Shikaku held his glance just a bit too deliberately, and Minato knew he was at least suspicious. He hadn't expected anything less, but Shikaku would have to wait. He would not make exceptions on a whim.

Later, once he had a bit more information, he would gladly accept the genius' help. But as of now he had no clue what he could possibly do with his scarce knowledge of the future.

Well, there was one thing.

"You _what_ now?!" To say Obito did not sound thrilled would be an understatement.

"I said I'm putting you three on standby for a while." Minato's voice was apologetic, but relentless. He knew it was selfish. They were in the middle of a war, Minato knew that. But if there was nothing else he could do, there was at least this. "It's not permanent. I just have to take care of a few things, and I want to keep you three in the village until then."

"But Sensei!" Obito yelled, half protest and half whine.

Kakashi was calmer but no less irritated. "What did we do?"

"It's not punishment, Kakashi."

"Then why? Why forbid us to go on missions? Why now?"

"Yeah!" Obito agreed and in any other situation Minato would be amazed that the two boys were on the same page for once. "Why are you babying us? We can handle missions, we're not genin anymore!"

"Sensei." Rin was calmer than both of her teammates, but that didn't mean she was happy. "Is it really a good idea to keep us off the roster? With Konoha in this kind of position?"

Minato felt a spark of pride. His students were smart, and they were right, of course. But when he looked at Kakashi he saw Obito's eye staring back at him drowned in Kakashi's grief, his and Rin's names glaring back at him from cold stone. He wouldn't budge on this.

"Please, I have to ask you to trust me on this. There are enough duties to complete within the village, and you can use the time for training." Seeing Kakashi's defiant glance and Obito's pout, he added, stricter: "That's an order. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Sensei," Kakashi said, closely followed by Rin. Obito crossed his arms but followed suit.

Minato could breathe a little easier knowing he had taken a step towards a better future.

He and Kushina continued to work on improving their seal work, Kushina more so than Minato. Not only were his duties as kage and teacher taking up his time, between the two of them Kushina was easily the more skilled sealmaster. The designs she came up with were both breathtaking and insane, her creativity and typical Uzumaki madness letting her come up with ideas that no one else would have ever considered.

Every time he came home to Kushina sprawled in an odd position with her tongue between her teeth, paper and brushes strewn around her and ink smudges on her face and their furniture, he was reminded again why he loved her so much.

It was on one of those evenings a few days after the incident, both of them sat on the floor surrounded by fuinjutsu seals, that he felt it again. The tugging in his hand, weak but getting more insistent as the seconds passed.

"Kushina. I think it's happening."

Kushina abandoned her project, leaping up and grabbing the bag they had prepared from the couch. She dropped it into his lap and took his hand to look at the seal. "It's not glowing or giving of heat. No signs of it activating. Are you sure?"

"I can feel it."

Kushina accepted his judgement with a nod. "Come on then." They were out of the window and sitting on the roof only seconds later. Minato wanted to avoid arriving in some stranger's living room.

"How long do you have?"

Minato hesitated, contemplating. "I don't know. It feels slower than last time. Still, not long."

"Quick then. What's the plan?"

"Go back, find out more about what went wrong. The Kyūbi first, then the kids. Find out about other major events, anything that could tell us what to expect."

Kushina nodded along with him. "Don't forget to be thorough. Don't get distracted, and don't let anybody stop you. If they try, kick their butts!"

Minato laughed. "I don't think that would make them trust me more." He checked the bag, making sure they hadn't forgotten anything. Fuinjutsu equipment. A notebook. Standard shinobi gear and his custom made kunai.

The seal started to feel warm. He spoke faster. "What about you?"

"I'll tell everyone that you caught something while you were gone and you're too sick to work. Take over your most important duties – I memorized the plan for the next week, don't worry – and deflect questions until you're back. Take care of anyone who gets too nosy."

Minato resolutely ignored that last one. "Remember, it doesn't matter if people get suspicious. You only have to keep it up for a few days."

"Piece of cake. The only thing you should worry about is me stealing your title while you're gone." She grinned, her eyes glistening mischievously. "Just wait, they won't want to let me go once they see me in action."

"What about me then?"

"You can be my trophy husband. And a stay-at-home dad."

Minato laughed, pulling Kushina closer. The seal burned hotter. "No complaints from me." He kissed her, tender and lovingly in the moments they had left. It would be easier, this time around. Knowing she was waiting for him, taking care of the village in his stead.

He pulled away, keeping one hand to gently cup her cheek. "See you soon."

"Don't screw it up, Namikaze." She looked away and Minato knew her well enough to see the concern in her expression.

The seal was ablaze and Minato had enough time to clutch his bag closer and smile at Kushina before it yanked at him and dragged him away.

* * *

When Minato opened his eyes he was alone. He was calmer this time, knowing what had happened and what he had to expect.

He didn't try to hide, trusting that someone would notice him sooner or later. Hopefully this time it wouldn't end quite as badly as before, with people accepting that he was who he claimed to be. Most likely Sarutobi would want another word with him.

Minato took the time he had left on his own to take a closer look at the village and leaped over Konoha's rooftops. Knowing what he was looking for, it wasn't difficult to pick out the differences in the landscape. He saw buildings that had either been renovated or expanded since he was gone. There was an entire street of relatively new buildings, perhaps rebuilt after the Kyūbi attack. And further back, close to the borders…

That was odd. Minato frowned, heading over to take a closer look. It was an entire district of the village that looked empty. Minato shuddered, an unsettling feeling in his gut. There were no people, no movement, nothing but abandoned buildings and a faint sense that something was wrong.

He jumped down, feeling someone landing behind him. Genma. Perhaps he wanted to continue their confrontation from before, hopefully on better terms.

Minato's question died on his tongue when he saw Genma's wide-eyed stare. He blinked in surprise. "Genma? What is it?"

"You're back."

"Oh." Of course. From their perspective he had appeared and disappeared without a trace. Of course they hadn't expected him to return. "Yeah. The seal goes both ways. I don't think it will stop anytime soon."

"Minato," Genma said, his voice slow and clear like Minato was missing the meaning of his words. "It's been weeks since you've been here."

His eyes widened. "What? It's only been a few days for me!" This was worrying. He had no control over the seal when it dragged him through time. What if it missed its mark completely? What if it brought him years further into the future, a future without anyone that he knew?

"I'm sorry," Genma said, avoiding his glance. "It's just… I didn't expect to see you again."

There was a moment of silence, and Minato decided to change the topic before it became too uncomfortable.

"What happened here?" he asked, his eyes wandering around the lifeless streets.

Genma hesitated, and it was enough to set off alarm bells in Minato's head. "Is that really how you want to start the conversation?" He was stalling.

"Genma, please." He glanced towards the closed gates, proudly displaying the Uchiha crest. "The Uchiha lived here. Why is it empty?"

"Fine." Genma sighed, a tired, defeated sound. "They– I'm sorry, Minato-san. They were killed. Slaughtered."

Minato stared. "Killed? _All of them?_ "

"All but one, yes. Two, I suppose."

Minato's mind was reeling. "But– they had the Sharingan. The entire police force were Uchiha. I don't– Who could have been strong enough? And why?"

Genma's eyes wandered through the streets, slowly as if it had been a while since he'd been here. How long ago had it been, for Genma?

"It was one of their own. Somehow managed to kill his entire clan without anybody getting the better of him. Itachi Uchiha, left only his–"

" _Itachi?_ " Minato burst out. "Fugaku and Mikoto's kid?"

"Him, yeah." Genma looked mildly surprised at Minato's recognition. "Only left his little brother alive. Everybody else…" He trailed off, letting the eerie silence around them speak for itself.

"Why did he do it?"

A shrug. "No one really knows. Some say the strain of being an ANBU at that age was too much for him. He might have snapped. The Uchiha madness finally caught up to their clan, people say."

Minato's mouth stiffened in distaste. He had known Itachi since he was born and had been his babysitter with Kushina more than once. The picture Genma was painting was impossible to connect to the five year old Minato knew, the quiet, polite boy who was too smart for his own good.

"How long had it been? When the massacre happened, how long had I been… dead?"

Genma moved the senbon in his mouth, thoughtful. "Not long. Roughly seven years."

Minato did the math and frowned. Itachi couldn't have been older than twelve, maybe thirteen years old. "And how many years has it been in total?"

"You've been dead for twelve years."

There was a pause, both of them caught up in their own thoughts.

"You know," Genma started, his voice oddly stiff. He was holding eye contact now and Minato was taken aback by the open display of emotion. "It wasn't easy, after– I mean. After you died."

Minato's throat was dry. What was he supposed to say to that?

"The war ended, but you. You were gone. And the Third, he tried his best. Still does." Genma paused. "But he wasn't you. And there was a reason he retired, back then."

"Why didn't he pass on the hat?"

Genma laughed, short and without humor. "Who could have taken it?"

Minato hesitated. He hated the bitter lining of Genma's words, hated that he was responsible for it. "I'm sorry." He was taken aback at Genma's laugh, genuine and bright.

"Only you would apologize for dying." Genma smiled and it lightened the mood a bit. "You know, even though I was never officially your student, I still never had a better teacher than you."

That stole a smile out of him. Minato loved teaching and could have probably been happy as a jōnin instructor, had he not set his eyes on the Hokage's position instead. But that reminded him. "Sorry for changing the subject, but speaking of teaching. Do you know where my student is?" He hadn't exactly left Kakashi on good terms last time.

"Your student? Which one?"

Minato's eyes widened, hope flooding his chest sweet and dizzying. So far all he had done was forbidding his team from attending missions and since he hadn't even talked to the shinobi assigning them, there was no guarantee for how long his orders would be followed. They were teenagers and itching to prove themselves.

Did this mean it had been enough? Had he prevented Rin and Obito from dying?

"Where are they?" He didn't try to hide his excitement.

Genma gave him an odd look. "Rin just got back from a mission. You can try your luck, but she probably won't talk to anyone." His voice was matter-of-fact with a bitter note to it. "Kakashi is at his usual place."

Minato's heart sank.

Genma was right and he found Kakashi at the memorial. The same air of exhaustion and grief surrounded him, the only difference being that he wore his forehead protector properly. Obito's eye was gone.

"Kakashi."

"Ah. So you're back." Kakashi didn't turn to look at him. "I wasn't sure if you would be. I thought I'd missed my chance for a reunion for good."

Minato hesitated. "Genma told me that Rin is back."

"She is?" Kakashi's voice wasn't even mildly interested. "She must have finished her mission early then."

Minato didn't answer. That wasn't what he had meant with 'back', but it told him what he needed to know. Kakashi wasn't aware of the change. He didn't know that Rin's name was supposed to be written on the stone with Obito's.

"Do you remember our conversation from last time?" Minato asked slowly. Kakashi had told him the story of how Obito and Rin had died. He'd shown him his Sharingan. If Minato had changed it, he shouldn't be able to remember any of it.

"Of course."

"Really? What did we talk about?"

"We talked about…" Kakashi trailed off, blinking in confusion. "We talked about Kushina, and… and Obito..." He furrowed his brows as if in deep concentration. His hand twitched upwards to his uncovered eye. Interesting.

Minato decided to change the topic for now. "Do you know where Rin is?"

Kakashi hesitated, and the dazed look in his eyes faded. "Probably."

"Bring me to her."

There was a pause and Kakashi's eyes flickered back to the memorial stone. Back to Obito. Minato wanted to tear Kakashi's eyes away from it. It was killing him, seeing Kakashi in pain without being able to do anything.

Finally, Kakashi turned. "If you insist. Fair warning though. She doesn't tend to be great company."

They set out into the streets, Kakashi leading the way. Minato tried not to stick out, but he was still attracting attention. There wasn't much to be done about his bright hair, not unless he wanted to use a Transformation Technique. Heads turned towards them as they walked by, most of them frowning as if they tried to place where they knew him from.

Nobody approached, but Minato hadn't expected them to. They were more likely to assume they were seeing things than connect him to their dead Fourth Hokage.

"–were trying to steal, don't act so innocently!"

Mild curiosity made him look for the raised voices.

"I wasn't! I didn't take anything!"

"Get out of here. If I see you again you'll be in real trouble!"

Minato's eyes widened in recognition as a young boy stormed out of a shop, scowling. The troublemaker from the old lady's stall. Minato's eyes lingered at the unusual color of his hair, the same shade of bright blond as his. The whiskers had to be the markings of a minor clan, although he didn't recognize them.

"What are you looking at?!" the boy yelled and stormed off before Minato could muster an answer.

He wanted to see what Kakashi thought of it, but he had already set off again. Maybe a little too fast. But before Minato could ask, Kakashi stopped in front of a bar.

"She's probably here. She always is, after missions."

Minato waited for Kakashi to enter, but he didn't move. "What is it?"

Kakashi was avoiding his gaze. "You go ahead. I'd rather sit this one out." And, in a puff of smoke, Kakashi vanished.

Minato frowned, but didn't try to follow.

He found Rin in a far back corner, tucked away and isolated. A scar marred the skin on her cheek, nearly reaching her eye and she reeked of alcohol and blood. Rin's eyes flickered up as Minato took the seat opposite of hers, dropping back to the table with a spark of recognition.

She took a swing of her bottle, grimacing. "So they were right. It's you." Minato didn't answer, making her scowl. "Don't look at me like that. Sad eyes won't get you anywhere."

"Rin. Where's Obito?"

"He's dead." The lack of emotion in that sentence was concerning. "You know he is. I was briefed, I know that Kakashi told you."

"He didn't tell me how it happened." At least not how it happened this time around. A knot had formed in Minato's gut. What on earth could have turned Rin, sweet, wonderful Rin, into this?

She stared at the table, acting like it was only her and the bottles of alcohol around her. The air around them was stale and heavy with tension. "If you must know," she started, still avoiding his gaze, "there was a mission. Later into the war. You were gone and Konoha needed shinobi and we were available."

Minato tried to swallow the lump in his throat. He could see where this was going, but he couldn't stop listening.

"It wasn't anything special. The mission went haywire and Obito didn't make it. That's all."

"You make it sound like it wasn't a big deal."

"People die," Rin said bluntly. "Obito wasn't special. We were at war and people died. He was just one of many."

"You say that," Minato said, pressing against his better judgement, "and yet you're here. Still grieving."

Rin didn't answer, so he switched tactics. "You're an ANBU. Aren't you?"

"How could you tell?"

"Lucky guess." ANBU was a magnet for broken people, so it felt. "What happened to becoming a medic?"

"Didn't work out."

"Rin." He waited until she looked him into the eyes. "Is that because you couldn't save Obito?" Pain flashed through glassy eyes and Minato had his answer. "It wasn't your fault."

"How would you know?" Rin whispered.

"Because I know you. And I know you would have done everything you could."

She chuckled, humorlessly and cold. "Well, it wasn't enough. You were gone and so was Obito and Kakashi just _changed_. Who else was there?"

Minato swallowed an apology, knowing it would not be well received. He couldn't take his eyes off Rin, took in the pain carved in her face like the scar that should not be there. "I changed it," he heard himself say. "Tried. I tried to change it. Rin, when I came back here before, you were dead, too."

There was a pause. "Well, maybe you should have left it that way."

Rin might as well have slapped him. But the sentence sounded like a dismissal and Minato took it as such.

He felt better than he had the first time around, after his conversation with Kakashi. Rin's story had been a blow, but he now knew it was temporary. Seeing both of his students like this, both of them suffering because he hadn't been there to stop it: Minato would make sure to correct his mistakes.

He stepped out of the bar and was hit with something that sent water gushing down his hair and shoulders. He didn't move, standing dumbfounded and dripping on the street. A water balloon? It hadn't registered as a threat, so he hadn't dodged. But who–?

"Hah! I got you!" The boy from before sat on one of the lower rooftops, cackling gleefully. Something about his laughter sent warmth through Minato's chest.

He leaped onto the roof, making the boy take a step back and raise his hands in surrender. "Woah. Calm down, it was just a joke."

Minato couldn't take his eyes off the boy's hair. The same shade as his. "What's your name?"

"Eh? Don't you know?" The boy frowned at him like he thought he was joking. "Aren't you from here?"

"Ahh. I'm afraid I've been away for a while," Minato said, smiling. It wasn't even that far off.

"Oookay," the boy said, still eying him suspiciously. "Well, I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Don't you forget it!"

Minato's mind went blank. He stared at the boy, at the self-proclaimed Naruto. Who had _his_ hair. Who had pranked him, laughing Kushina's laughter.

"What's wrong with you?" Naruto asked bluntly. "You're staring."

But it couldn't be. "How old are you?"

"What kinda question is that?"

"Please!" he burst out. He needed to get an answer. "Naruto. Just answer."

Naruto frowned at him, but obeyed. "I'm twelve. And you're weird."

It fit. His age fit. Minato stood gaping, taking in Naruto's appearance. Taking in his son. He was alive. Naruto was alive. Why hadn't anyone told him? Sarutobi or Genma or Shikaku, why had none of them told him? Why hadn't Kakashi?

"I-It's nice to meet you, Naruto." He choked out the words with effort, forcing a smile on his face. He resisted the urge to sweep up Naruto and bring him along, noticing the ANBU crowding in on them. He would only scare his son. "I have to go now. But I'll be back."

"Eh? You haven't even told me your name!"

Everything in him was screaming at him to go back but he ignored it and headed towards the Hokage's residence. He could feel the ANBU around him, holding their distance. Minato didn't care. The Hokage owed him answers.

* * *

A/N: My betas are the wonderful **Igornerd,** **To Mockingbird** and **PyrothTenka**!

You can check my profile or tumblr page to check when the next update will be.

Please leave a review, see you next time!

~Gwen


	4. Chapter 4

**Time Flows Like Ink**

 **Summary:** After a fuinjutsu experiment gone wrong, Minato is yanked into a future where his family is dead, his team fell apart and the Uchiha were slaughtered. With the defective seal burning in his palm, Minato struggles to stay afloat in a Konoha that isn't his.

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

The Hokage's office was dead silent. The same shinobi who'd held a heated discussion before couldn't even look him in the eyes now. He didn't care why each of them had suddenly gotten tongue-tied. Minato was furious.

Nobody had even commented on his still dripping hair.

"Minato," Sarutobi said, the first to break the silence since Minato had confronted them. "You have to understand–"

Minato's glare sharpened, and he could hear one of the younger shinobi whimper. Sarutobi wasn't as easily impressed. "We couldn't have been sure that it was really you. This is sensitive information."

"The first time, maybe." Minato struggled to stay rational. "But while I was gone you obviously decided that the tests and Kakashi's testimony were enough proof. If not, Genma would have brought me here the moment he found me at the Uchiha district. So why didn't he tell me? Or Rin? Or Kakashi?"

Maybe it was better that none of them were in the office with them. Minato wouldn't have known how to react, otherwise.

"Minato, please. I–" Sarutobi couldn't look him in the eyes and Minato realized he would only get more excuses. Fine. There were more important things.

"Who's taking care of him?"

Sarutobi blinked, cut off mid-sentence. "What?"

"He's too young to live alone. Who's taking care of him?"

Nobody answered and Minato felt his facade crumbling. He was about to demand an answer when Shikaku spoke up behind him. "He lives by himself."

Minato bit his lip to keep himself from screaming. "Does he have a guardian? Someone who checks in on him regularly? Who spends time with him?"

Sarutobi opened his mouth to say something but decided against it. Silence greeted him instead. Minato looked around, his eyes lingering on the people who were supposed to be his friends. How could any of them have let his son grow up alone?

"Tell me about him."

"Of course." Sarutobi leaned back in his seat, heaving a sigh. "We never found out all the details. On the night that Kushina gave birth... something happened and the Kyūbi broke free." He looked into the distance, lost in memories. Minato didn't comment, waiting for him to keep going.

"You fought it, Minato. But you gave your life. By the time we found you, you and Kushina were dead and the Kyūbi was sealed inside Naruto."

So Naruto was the jinchūriki? Minato didn't want to think about what that meant for his position in the village.

"At the time we thought-" Sarutobi cut himself off. " _I_ thought that it would be best to keep Naruto's identity secret. To let him grow up without the knowledge of what lingers inside of him. I'm afraid I was wrong. But I did not realize until it was too late."

Minato swallowed against the dryness in his throat. "So. So Naruto doesn't know he's a jinchūriki. But everybody else does? The villagers do?"

Sarutobi's expression grew pained. "The adults do. They were forbidden from telling their children, in the hopes that their prejudice would not be passed on." He closed his eyes. "Another mistake of mine."

Naruto was the jinchūriki, and most of the village knew. Minato's shoulders were tense. It meant that his son would be treated accordingly but without knowing the reason. And from the sounds of it, there'd been no one he could have gone to for support. Minato couldn't believe it.

He had one more question. "Where is Jiraiya-sensei? He's Naruto's godfather." A horrible thought struck him. "Is he–"

"He's alive," Sarutobi said, muffling Minato's concerns. "He's stationed outside the village. Overseeing his spy network."

Minato felt his eye twitching. "Does he come for visits?"

A pause. "As far as I know, he and Naruto have never met."

To his own surprise, Minato had to laugh. It was an ugly, brittle sound and made the shinobi around him fidget. "Of course. What else." He rubbed his eyes, feeling incredibly tired. "Is there anything else I should know?"

Nobody answered, so Minato turned towards the window. He could have teleported, but he felt someone outside who he wanted to talk to.

"Where are you going?"

Minato looked at Sarutobi incredulously. What kind of question was that? "To get to know my son." He looked around, daring someone to try and stop him. They were smarter than that, and Minato leaped outside the window and onto the rooftops. Kakashi had been waiting, joining him a second later.

"Did you listen in?"

"... I did."

"Good." Minato could barely recognize his own voice. "Show me Naruto's apartment." He would tear the entire village apart to find him, but chances were his son had gone home by now. He would try there, first.

Kakashi knew what was good for him and followed his order without comment. It was silent, both of them leaping over the rooftops and ignoring the tension between them. The trip wasn't long.

"It's that one," Kakashi said, coming to a halt and pointing to the building on the other side of the street. The neighborhood didn't look fancy, but not terrible either. Minato concentrated and felt chakra spiking inside the building, in a way that could only be explained with a jinchūriki.

Minato closed his eyes. He wanted to head over so, so badly. Everything inside of him screamed, knowing Naruto was close. But he needed to have a conversation with Kakashi first.

He cut to the chase right away. "I didn't expect you to take care of him when I died, Kakashi."

Kakashi stiffened, knowing what was coming.

"You were fourteen, you– I wouldn't demand something like that from you. But it's been years and Naruto, he." Minato had to pause. It was difficult, but this was important. "He didn't even know who I was. We bumped into him on the streets and he didn't know you either, Kakashi. How can that be?"

Kakashi hesitated and Minato didn't snap at him only because he could see emotions raging behind his eyes, shame and guilt and self-loathing. "I don't have an excuse," he said, finally. "Not one that would be enough. At first I was young and grieving. Obito happened and Rin–"

Kakashi broke off but Minato understood. He had seen how Rin had changed and he wondered if one of the reasons his students were miserable was each other. Had they dragged each other down, both of them blinded by their grief and pain that they hadn't noticed the downward spiral until it was too late?

"After that I just kept coming up with excuses. I told myself the war was more important. Then that I was too busy with ANBU. Then that Naruto would be better off without–" He broke off, his voice wavering. "Without someone with bloodstained hands like mine."

Minato frowned, conflicting feelings raging through his gut. He nearly considered Kakashi his own son and he wanted to wrap him in a hug and erase all the years of suffering. Another voice that sounded suspiciously like Kushina told him to punch Kakashi.

"You're right," Minato said. "That doesn't make it okay." His eyes were dragged back to the apartment, where his son was waiting. He wanted to wrap this up.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Kakashi. I'm hurt, and that's not going to go away anytime soon. Kushina and I would have considered you Naruto's older brother and he doesn't even _know_ you here." Kakashi flinched, wide eyes snapping up. Hadn't he known how Kushina and Minato thought of him? "I'm going to get to know my son, and I'm going to do that alone."

Kakashi's eyes were glued to the ground but he nodded, accepting Minato's decision. "Later, depending on how mad I still am, you and Rin will come with me and you will introduce yourself to him properly. No more excuses."

Kakashi's eyes snapped up, staring at Minato in disbelief. "Y-Yes, Sensei." He sounded like he hadn't expected Minato to want him in his life anymore. Too bad for him: Kushina would want to say her piece, as well. He wouldn't get off the hook that easily.

"Go and tell Rin," Minato said, turning towards his son's house. "She won't get out of this, either."

"Yes, Sensei." Kakashi's eyes closed in a smile, considerably more cheerful than before. He headed off, leaving Minato behind. It was time.

His heart was pounding madly by the time he stood in front of Naruto's door. Excitement battled with anxiousness and Minato felt sick to his stomach. What if Naruto didn't like him? What if he hated Minato because he hadn't been there for him? What if he didn't want anything to do with him?

Get it together, Namikaze! Kushina wouldn't let herself freeze like this. She would soldier on, no matter the odds. She wouldn't let doubts stop her from meeting their son.

Before he could change his mind, Minato knocked. His breath caught in his throat as the door opened, revealing a bewildered looking Naruto. "You again! How do you know where I live?!"

Minato failed to form words, taking in every detail he had overlooked before. Naruto had Minato's eyes alongside his hair. He could recognize some of Kushina's features. But where did the whiskers come from? Were they a byproduct of the fox?

"What do you want, weirdo?" Naruto asked, snapping Minato out of it.

"My name is Minato," he burst out. "Namikaze Minato."

"Oookay. Am I supposed to know who that is?"

Minato smiled wistfully. "No. No, I suppose not." It didn't surprise him that Naruto didn't know his name but he was still disappointed. No one had thought it necessary to tell Naruto about him or Kushina, not even in passing. He paused. "Can I come in?"

Naruto frowned at him, hesitating. "I guess?" He stepped aside and Minato contemplated if he should scold him for letting in a stranger just like that. Oh well.

The apartment was small, fitting for housing a single child. It was a bit barren, only a minimum of furniture and personal items strewn around and empty cups and packages here and there. It was obviously missing a parental figure. Minato frowned, suppressing another painful jab in his chest.

"Are you just gonna stand around and stare?" The suspicious frown was gone, leaving Naruto looking lost. Insecure. It was understandable, considering that he probably didn't get many guests.

"Right. I'm sorry." He sat on Naruto's couch, noting with alarm that his throat had gone dry. His hands were damp with sweat. He cleared his throat, willing himself to push onwards. "Alright. How do I do this best…"

He decided to start from the beginning. "Do you remember when we talked before? I mentioned that I haven't been in the village for a while. It's been about twelve years now."

"Why were you gone?"

"I didn't have a choice. There were… things, that kept me out of the village."

"So like a mission? A really, really long one?"

"Yeah," Minato lied, "something like that." What he was about to tell Naruto was difficult to believe as it was. No need to throw the time travelling bit on top of it, too.

"Anyway. The point is, the last time I was here was twelve years ago, when the Kyūbi broke free. Did you learn about that in school?" Naruto nodded and Minato pressed on. "At the time I thought I'd lost my wife in the attack. And my son."

Naruto didn't answer, not catching Minato's implication. Minato's fist was clenched hard enough to drive his fingernails into his palm. "I found out today that my son is still alive."

"Why aren't you with him then?" Naruto's voice was tense, either because of a sense of foreboding or refusing to acknowledge what Minato was saying.

"Naruto," he said, his voice catching on the name. "Look at me. What do you see?"

Naruto stared. His eyes started to wander, taking in Minato's appearance. Cautiously. Anxiously. "We have the same hair color," he said. "No one in the village has that exact shade. And your eyes…"

Minato smiled even as he felt tears prickling behind his eyes.

"T-This is a joke, right? You're joking!" Naruto leaped to his feet, clenching his fists. He glared at Minato with watery eyes.

"Naruto. I'm your father."

Naruto stood in stunned silence, his mouth twisting like he wasn't sure which emotion to form. Minato itched to hear him say something. Anything. But he knew he had to give Naruto time. So he waited.

"That's not... You can't be–" Naruto broke off, taking a step back. "You're not my father!"

"Naruto-"

"No!" Naruto was yelling now. "I don't even know my parents' names! Nobody ever bothered to tell me. I always thought they'd have to show up eventually, they'd show up and acknowledge me but it's been twelve years and they didn't come, nobody did, they've gotta be dead or left because they didn't want me or–" Naruto had to pause. He was breathing heavily. "You're not him. You can't be."

Minato was lost for words. He wanted to apologize, beg his forgiveness for leaving Naruto alone for so long. But how could he when Naruto didn't even believe him yet?

But he had to try. "We _wanted_ to be there for you, but… Something went wrong." He cut himself off, realizing that there was no way he could explain everything to Naruto. He didn't even know what had gone wrong himself yet.

Minato tried again and the right words came naturally to him. "You know," he began. "We – that is, your mother and I, her name is Kushina – we picked your name out of a book from a dear friend of ours. She was overjoyed when she found out that she was pregnant. She couldn't wait to be a mother."

He took Naruto's silence as permission to keep going. "We invested hours to set up your bedroom. You can't imagine how excited we were, how much we looked forward to becoming parents. How much we looked forward to you.

"Naruto. I'm so sorry that it took me this long to come back. There's nothing I regret more than knowing that you had to grow up alone."

Naruto continued to look at him, his stare intense like he tried to find the lies in Minato's words. "Are you–" Naruto's voice broke. He bit his lip, his eyes avoiding Minato. "Are you going to stay this time?"

An adamant 'yes' threatened to burst out of him and Minato had to remind himself that that was not a promise he could make. "There's nothing I'd rather do than get to know you, and I'll do my best to spend as much time here as I can. But there's things I have to do, things that I can't ignore. I can promise you that I'll do my best."

It wasn't good enough and Minato knew it. Naruto deserved more, so much more. But Minato didn't have the power to give it to him. Not yet.

"Okay." Naruto was frowning like he didn't know what to make of Minato. He couldn't blame him: Naruto didn't know him, so he had no reason to trust him. "Are you going to stay for now? For today?"

Minato smiled, glad for a question he could answer without hesitation. "There's nothing I'd love more."

Naruto brightened up a bit, fragile hope reflected in wide eyes. "And…" He hesitated, biting his lip anxiously. "Will you… Tell me about her? About you two?"

"Anything you want to know. But I want to know about you, too."

Naruto's grin brightened the entire room and made Minato feel warm. "Deal, old man!"

"O-Old man?! I'm twenty-three!"

Naruto wrinkled his nose. "Yeah. That's old."

Minato shuddered. "Don't ever say that in front of Kushina, you hear?"

Naruto fell silent and his expression grew unreadable. Was something the matter? Had Minato said something wrong? He stood, taking a step forwards. "Naruto–"

He grunted as a weight rammed into him, arms wrapping around his middle. Naruto was hugging him. Minato choked a tearful laugh, returning the embrace. Happiness burned in his chest, stronger than any of the pain and anger that had built up over the last few hours. It felt like his son was the only good thing in this broken future.

Minato couldn't wait to tell Kushina everything.

* * *

A/N: My wonderful betas are **Igornerd** , **PyrothTenka** and **To Mockingbird**!

Two of my three Marvel stories are up by now, so if you're interesting in a time travelling Loki or the destructive duo that would be Tony and Nebula, give them a shot!

Let me know what you think!

~Gwen


	5. Chapter 5

**Time Flows Like Ink**

 **Summary:** After a fuinjutsu experiment gone wrong, Minato is yanked into a future where his family is dead, his team fell apart and the Uchiha were slaughtered. With the defective seal burning in his palm, Minato struggles to stay afloat in a Konoha that isn't his.

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

Now that Minato had met Naruto once, the thought of being apart from him was agonizing, so he didn't return to the Hokage to ask for a place to stay. Waking up with a stiff neck from sleeping on Naruto's tiny couch was a small price to pay.

They'd talked until deep into the night, too ecstatic over each other to think or care about the consequences for the next day. Minato had talked about Kushina and their life back in the past (although he left out the time travelling bit), asking questions in return. He could tell that Naruto didn't tell him everything, but he didn't press.

Even so, he found out that Naruto took after Kushina in many ways: his bubbly personality for one, his love for ramen and for pranking. A lot of their time had been spent by Naruto gleefully retelling his favorite pranks, wildly gesticulating and with an energy that reminded him of Kushina even more.

By the time they reluctantly went to sleep hours had passed, and it felt like he'd only slept for minutes when Minato was torn out of his sleep by yelling.

" _Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap–_ " Naruto came bursting out of his bedroom, half dressed and still wearing his nightcap. He stormed through the apartment like his life depended on it, getting dressed clumsily and grabbing a bag that was carelessly thrown on the kitchen counter.

He was nearly out of the door when his eyes fell on Minato, making him stumble and skid to a halt. They stared at each other, taken aback.

"Naruto?" Minato asked, swinging his legs from the couch and suppressing a yawn. "What's the hurry for?"

"You're still here."

He blinked. "Where else would I be?"

"Dunno… 's just," Naruto mumbled, his cheeks coloring, "I thought it might be a dream or… something."

"Well, I'm still here." Minato gave his son a smile. "Where are you going?"

"Just the Academy. There's classes." Naruto's eyes widened. "Right! I'm gonna be late!"

Huh. Minato hadn't thought Naruto would be one to care about things like that. But this was his chance! "I know a shortcut, you know?"

Less than a minute later they appeared on the street opposite of the academy and Naruto had forgotten all about his classes.

"That was amazing! Did we teleport? How does that work? Can you teach me, please please please?!"

Minato grinned, feeling ridiculously pleased about having impressed his son. He had years worth of it to catch up on, after all. "It's called the Flying Thunder God Technique. It's very advanced, but I'd love to show you the basics later."

"Flying Thunder God Technique? That's so cool!" Naruto's eyes were sparkling, his voice loud and excited. Take that, Kushina! At least someone could appreciate his amazing naming skills.

Minato hated to cut their conversation short, but both of them had things to do. "Weren't you worried about missing classes?"

"Oh! Right! Iruka-sensei will have my head if I skip again!" He turned, dashing off towards the academy. "See you later!"

As Minato watched him go, he felt the irrational urge to run after him. He felt like Naruto would disappear if he left him out of his sight. He sighed, facing the group of trees planted at the street corner. "He's gone. You can come out now."

There was a pause and Minato had the odd feeling of having caught one of his genin pulling a prank. But Rin was no longer a genin. She landed in front of him and looked as exhausted as the day before, disheveled and with dark bags under her eyes. There were still blood stains on her uniform.

"Have you slept?" he couldn't help but ask, concern winning out over the disappointment still lingering in his gut. He hadn't forgiven any of them, but Rin was still his student. He couldn't watch her waste away with her self-destructive behavior.

The lack of an answer told Minato all he needed to know. Rin avoided eye contact, holding up a stack of documents and folders. "Here."

"Rin–?"

"Take them. They're all the reports and files about the massacre I could find. There's less about the Kyūbi attack. And some others." She shrugged, still not meeting his eyes. "I took a guess what you'd want to see."

Minato took the documents, lost for words. Was that how she'd spent her night?

Rin kept going, fidgeting and sounding more anxious with every sentence. "Kakashi told me you'd want to find out as much as possible. He's doing the same, by the way. We split up. There's a lot to cover."

"Rin." She bit her lip, cutting of another nervous ramble. As a twelve year old, Minato wouldn't have hesitated to pull her into a hug. But Rin wasn't twelve, and Minato didn't know her well enough to anticipate how she would react. "Thank you. You have no idea how much this helps." It was worrying how glad Minato was to not have to talk to the Hokage again.

He hesitated, throwing a glance at the documents in his arms. He made a decision. "Would you mind helping me go through these?" Rin blinked, her eyes widening and Minato added, "If you have the time. I mean, I'd appreciate it." Had talking to Rin ever been this awkward?

Her lips twitched in a way that simply wasn't enough to be called a smile. Especially not coming from sweet, cheerful Rin. "Lead the way."

It was on their way back to Naruto's apartment that Minato realized that Rin, just like Kakashi, was older than him. The thought made him feel dizzy and by the time they sat in the living room, paper and folders spread out around them on the floor, Minato couldn't help but sneak glances at her every few minutes. He doubted he would ever get used to this.

He forced his attention back and his eyes got stuck on the ANBU stamp plastered on the next cover sheet. So far most of them had either been taken from the library or the semi-public archives. "Were you even allowed to take these?" he asked, holding up the folder. "How did you get them out of the headquarters?"

Rin looked up, her mouth curved in an echo of a grin. "I have my ways."

There was a noise at the window and both of them watched Kakashi slide into the room, not bothering to knock. "Got room for one more?" His cheerful voice sounded stilted.

Minato returned a smile and hated that it felt strained. "Feel free."

Kakashi dumped another stack of documents in their midst, grabbing for one and dropping down beside them. Minato could ignore the awkwardness for a while, focusing on his goal and getting lost in words and ink. Once in a while Rin and Kakashi spoke up to comment on something they'd read, or to pass a folder they thought he'd want to see for himself.

The reports were disappointing, to say the least. They confirmed what Sarutobi had told him: Minato had, apparently, forced the fox out of the village after it had started its rampage. Kushina had followed, weakened from giving birth, and it hadn't taken long for them to somehow seal the fox in Naruto and save Konoha. Nobody had come close enough for details until it was already over, and nobody had seen the cause for the disaster, either.

There was more about the massacre, but no matter how many documents Minato read, he couldn't shake off the thought that something was missing. Uchiha Itachi, a single thirteen-year-old child prodigy slaughtering his entire clan to prove his superiority felt wrong in a way that Minato couldn't quite explain, going beyond the denial of a child being capable of such a horrific act.

They took a break at one point, Kakashi heading out for take-out, but didn't waver from their goal otherwise.

Hours passed and Minato read the same information again and again, the redundancy of it giving him a headache. Rin and Kakashi were silent, not finding anything new, either.

Minato sighed, leaning back and dragging a hand over his face. "Is there anything that the reports leave out? Anything you know?"

"Nothing concrete, no," Kakashi said, sharing a glance with Rin and following suit in abandoning the documents.

"We both knew Itachi from ANBU," Rin said. "He was incredibly talented. Intelligent and with the strength to pull it off. It sounds insane, but I don't doubt that he was able to kill his clan."

"But there's something," Minato said, pushing for details.

"He had the skills for it," she repeated, "but I'm not sure about his motivation. They say he wanted to prove his superiority, but Itachi is– I was on a few missions with him, and he was never competitive. Striving to become stronger, sure. Most shinobi are. But competitive?"

She threw a glance at Kakashi, who shrugged. "Many say the stress simply caught up to him and made him snap. It's not enough to disprove anything. But it is odd."

Minato looked down, not focused on the folder in his hands at all. If it was true, if Itachi was solely at fault for killing his clan, that was easily fixed. In various more or less pretty ways.

But if it wasn't? Minato needed all the information he could get.

Minato groaned, stretching his sore limbs and leaned against the couch. Time for a break. "What else have you two been up to? ANBU couldn't have been all."

Kakashi and Rin found sudden new interest in the documents. Minato's smile faltered, although he couldn't say he was surprised. "There has to be something."

"The Hokage has been trying to make me take on a genin team," Kakashi offered.

"A genin team? But that's great!" Minato's excitement dampened as Kakashi's words caught up with him. "What do you mean, 'trying'?"

Kakashi shrugged. "He hasn't shown me a team that met my standards yet."

"Those being?"

"Potential for teamwork." Kakashi avoided his glance and Minato sat back, stunned. "It took long enough, but I suppose your lessons had to get through eventually."

Minato couldn't place the heavy feeling in his gut. He swallowed, turning to Rin. "What about you? Have you considered taking on a team?"

"Never." The vehemence in her voice hit Minato like a blow. "It came up once. I refused."

Minato almost didn't want to ask. "Why?"

Rin shrugged. "ANBU lets me get out of the village. In here it's like…" She hesitated, her voice growing quiet. "Like I'm suffocating. I need to get out."

The three of them sunk back into silence, tension pressing down on them uncomfortably. Obito's absence sat in their midst heavy and impossible to ignore, a hole that left their team incomplete and unstable. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

Minato tried to find something else to talk about – there had to be a harmless enough topic, right? – but the three of them tensed as they noticed a familiar beacon of chakra coming closer. How long had they spent going through the documents? It hadn't felt like quite this long.

"Right," Kakashi said, leaping to his feet. Rin followed suit, fidgeting and eyes darting to the door. "I guess that's our cue."

Both of them headed for the window, and Minato didn't think when he leaped up. "Wait."

Rin and Kakashi paused, looking back at him in apprehension and surprise respectively. Minato hesitated, taking a moment to decide if he wanted to go through with this. Naruto came closer, quickly enough that he had to be running. Minato made a decision.

"Stay. Please."

It took only a moment for Kakashi to give in, turning from the window and giving a nod. Rin took longer, shifting on her feet and throwing glances outside like she was struggling not to flee. It was only when they heard the rattling of Naruto's key that she caved in, surrendering to her fate with tense shoulders.

The door swung open with a loud "Old man?" and Minato wanted to sigh, almost feeling Kakashi's amused glance on him. He was never going to live this down.

"Woah," Naruto said, entering the room with widened eyes. "What happened here?"

Minato winced, gaze wandering over the heaps of documents and notes strewn around the living room. He was so used to it at home, he hadn't realized what a mess they'd made. "Sorry about that, Naruto. We got a bit… carried away. We'll clean it up, don't worry."

"We?" Naruto blinked, eyes narrowing at the sight of Kakashi and Rin. "Who're you?"

Kakashi stole a glance at Minato. Rin's eyes were wide, staring at Naruto and frozen like a genin on a B-rank. Minato decided to take pity on them. "Naruto, this is Kakashi," he laid a hand on Kakashi's shoulder, "and this is Rin. They were my students before I… had to leave."

"Oh." Naruto shifted on his feet, not sure what to say to that. "Okay."

"Right!" Minato wanted to smack himself, realizing how late it must be. "You're home from the academy. You must be hungry!"

He didn't wait for an answer, rushing into the kitchen and peeking into the fridge and various cupboards. Countless cups of ramen and other instant food greeted him, and Minato couldn't say he was surprised. This wouldn't do.

Back in the living room nobody else had moved or made an attempt at conversation, and Minato wondered how it came that he was in the sole company of socially stunted people. He'd have to fix that.

"Alright," he said, snatching an empty piece of paper and scribbling a quick grocery list. "Kakashi, you're going to go to the market. Feel free to add more if you can think of anything."

He handed over the list, ignoring Kakashi's stunned expression. To Rin, he said, "We're gonna clean up this mess. And then you're both staying for dinner. Got it?"

There was silence, and Minato raised an eyebrow, daring them to protest. Finally, Kakashi flashed him a smile, accepting the list and left with a "Yes, Sensei!"

Naruto blinked, staring after him. "Why'd he use the window? The door is right here."

Minato laughed. "Don't worry about it. It's a shinobi thing."

"Hey, Lady! Are you a shinobi too?" Rin froze mid-motion, already starting to collect the paper. Maybe so she had something to do, maybe to try to make herself invisible.

"...Yes."

"So cool!" Naruto bounced closer, beaming at Rin with sparkling eyes. "Where did you get that scar? Was it on a mission? Is that _blood?_ "

Minato winced at his childish enthusiasm, hoping that Rin would take it in a stride. Maybe inviting the two of them had been too rash. He wanted nothing more than his students and his son getting to know each other, but he didn't want to make Rin uncomfortable.

He was about to intervene when Naruto spoke up again. "My mom was a shinobi too, you know?"

"...Yeah. I knew Kushina."

"You did?" Naruto's eyes grew wide. "Was that because you were my old man's student?"

"Sort of." Rin hesitated, straightening up another stack of paper and putting it neatly on the table. "She came to watch our training when she had the time. She brought us lunch. Encouraged us, and gave tips." The corner of her lips twitched upwards. "She smuggled candy and told us embarrassing stories about Minato-sensei whenever she got us for herself."

Minato knocked over the stack of folders he had just collected. "Sh-She did what?"

"What kind of stories?" Naruto grinned, his eyes sparkling mischievous.

"Rin, don't–"

"You know the teleportation technique he used to bring you to school?" Naruto nodded, hanging on her every word. "Well, it took him months to perfect it. He kept crashing into buildings, until he realized it was safer to practice outside the village."

Minato felt his cheeks coloring. "R-Rin–"

"I bet half of the D-ranks the village assigned at the time were just to replace the trees he destroyed."

Naruto laughed and Minato crossed his arms, pouting. His students were the worst. "You try developing a new technique. It's not that easy!"

Rin sent him a look that was possibly supposed to be apologetic, but it was ruined by the fact that she had never looked closer to a real grin than now.

With the ice broken it was a lot easier to keep the awkwardness at bay, and Kakashi joined them after they had finished cleaning up the living room. He walked in to Naruto asking more questions about his mother.

"I got your hair and your eyes. Did I get anything from my mom?"

Minato gave him a fond smile. "You remind me of her a lot. You have her laugh, and you both love pranking."

"She liked to prank people? Really?" Naruto's eyes widened, voice raised in awe.

"Oh yes."

"So much."

Kakashi and Rin spoke in a deadpan voice, and Kakashi looked like he was suppressing a shudder.

"She sounds amazing…" Naruto trailed off with a small smile, eyes on the table and not taking in anything.

Minato wanted to say something – Naruto looked so _sad_ , asking about the mother he had never met – but Kakashi was quicker. He dropped the grocery bags on the table, pulling out something else from his pocket.

"Here," he said, holding out a few pictures for Naruto. "I stopped at my apartment to pick these up."

Minato peered over Naruto's shoulder and had to smile. The first picture showed Kushina in her shinobi gear, hair pulled back in a ponytail and grinning cheerfully at the camera.

It took a moment until Naruto managed to form words. "Is– Is that her?"

Minato hummed in confirmation. "That's Kushina."

"And this…" Naruto pulled out the next one. It was a picture of all five of them, Minato laughing in the background as Kushina pulled all three of his students in various states of cooperation in for a hug.

"My team. Here's Kakashi, here's Rin, and that's Obito." His smile dimmed. "I'm afraid he didn't survive the war."

Naruto shot him a startled look, but didn't answer. Maybe he didn't know what to say.

There were a few more: pictures of him and Kushina, Kushina with Mikoto, Kushina alone with his team. Minato made a mental note to ask Kakashi where he'd gotten all of them.

Even when Naruto was through, he didn't put the pictures away, going through them a second and then a third time. None of them wanted to break this moment for him, so Minato pulled out the groceries, starting to prepare dinner. He even got Kakashi and Rin to help, thrusting a pair of knives and vegetables at them to chop.

Naruto, once he was done with the pictures, asked to help with a shaky voice and by the time dinner was cooking they had gone back to telling stories. They talked about their time as a team, about the missions they had completed (heavily censored) and, of course, about Kushina. Naruto soaked in every word, and sitting at the table with his son and both of his students, Minato was convinced for the first time that he would find it in himself to forgive them.

* * *

A/N: Quite frankly, I'm starting to get annoyed with some people's obsession with canon consistency, seeing as half of the reviews I get on this seem to be corrections about the timeline. It's kind of frustrating when all of them are either a) plain wrong or b) talking about changes that I made consciously to suit the fic better (f.e. Minato becoming Hokage earlier than in canon).

This is fanfiction, not an essay. It's supposed to be fun. If you catch a mistake that contradicts the _**story**_ , by all means, tell me! But please stop over-analysing it and point out every minor detail you _think_ contradicts canon.

On a more postive note, my betas are still the most wonderful people I could have wished for, so giant thanks to **To Mockingbird** , **PyrothTenka** and **Igornerd**!

Let me know what you think!

~Gwen


	6. Chapter 6

**Time Flows Like Ink**

 **Summary:** After a fuinjutsu experiment gone wrong, Minato is yanked into a future where his family is dead, his team fell apart and the Uchiha were slaughtered. With the defective seal burning in his palm, Minato struggles to stay afloat in a Konoha that isn't his.

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

The villagers weren't stupid. Minato had been seen multiple times at this point, most notably with each of his students on two different occasions. His hair was a dead giveaway, as was his Thunder God technique that he may or may not have slightly overused, flashing through the village with a giggling Naruto on his back. It wasn't like he'd had a choice. How could he have declined with those puppy eyes pleading him?

The point was, people were starting to put two and two together. There were no worse gossipers than shinobi, and since Sarutobi hadn't declared Minato an S-rank secret, the rumors soon started to become uncomfortably close to the truth. It had only been a matter of time until the Hokage decided to make an announcement to the villagers, laying the rumors to rest and making Minato's presence in the village public knowledge.

Minato didn't particularly care either way. Several incidents with the villagers had made it increasingly more nerve wracking to leave the house with Naruto by his side. It made it his blood boil, the way people kept trying to _warn_ him about Naruto.

"Namikaze-san! It's really you, isn't it?" The stares, up to this point at least making the attempt to stay discreet, zoomed in on them immediately. "Listen, that boy… he's nothing but trouble. Don't you know who he is?"

Minato nearly wanted to laugh at the irony. Here they were, trying to get him to avoid his own son because he was a jinchūriki. It hadn't been the first time someone had tried to "help" him, and Minato was amazed at how little the villagers actually knew about him. He had _married_ a jinchūriki, for goodness sake.

"You should talk to Hokage-sama, Namikaze-san. If only you _knew_ …"

Minato stole a worried glance at Naruto, seeing him frown and stare at the ground. Did that woman think he couldn't hear her? He was right next to Minato!

"Excuse me, Ma'am." It made her halt in her tracks, blinking at him with a startled gaze. He hadn't tried to keep the ice out of his voice. "Unless you change your attitude, please don't talk to me or my son ever again."

Gasps could be heard all around at the word 'son', and Minato grabbed for Naruto's hand to lead him away, satisfaction burning in his gut.

"Don't listen to them," he said once they had left the crowd behind. It worried him that Naruto hadn't made an attempt to speak up. "I'm sorry that they're treating you this way. But they're wrong. And as long as you're with me, I won't accept that kind of behavior."

Naruto hummed, indiscernible, not raising his gaze.

"Naruto. Please look at me." He waited until Naruto obeyed. "They're _wrong_. And I don't care what they say. Alright?"

"Whatever. It's not like I care." Naruto didn't sound convincing at all. That was alright. Minato was there to remind him as many times as he needed it.

Gathering intel, in the meantime, hadn't been any more successful since the day he'd spent going over the documents with Rin and Kakashi. Minato had pushed his negative feelings aside in order to talk to various other high-ranked shinobi – Sarutobi, the elders and Shikaku right at the top of his list – but none of them had had anything new to tell him. Whether that was because they genuinely didn't have the information or because they didn't want to give it to him, Minato couldn't quite say.

For lack of a better idea, he decided to consult his old teacher.

"Jiraiya, huh?" Shikaku had said after Minato had brought up the topic. "I'm afraid I can't tell you where he is. Not because it's classified," he hurried on before Minato could protest, "but because I don't know. He doesn't send reports that often."

Luckily, Minato could think of another way to contact him.

"And why do you need blood for that?" Naruto asked, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of him.

"That's the sacrifice needed to make the summoning successful. It doesn't work with chakra alone, and only those who signed the contract are able to use the technique."

Naruto frowned at that, contemplating. "So I could choose what contract I want to sign? I could have any kind of animal?"

"Summon," Minato corrected, "and yes, in theory. You do need someone who has already signed the contract to offer it to you. There's other ways, but those tend to be more… complicated."

"Can you do it? Come on, show me!"

Minato happily obliged. "Just remember, leave the talking to me, alright? The toads can be a bit, well. You'll see." He formed the required hand-seals, bit his thumb and planted his palm on the floor. Symbols spread out where his hand had touched the ground and a toad materialized in a puff of smoke.

"Of course, we only need to deliver a message for now," Minato continued. "For battle, there's summons larger than buildings!"

"Eh? What's that supposed to mean?" The toad, Minato recognized him as Gamaden, sounded more than a little offended. Minato immediately realized his mistake.

"N-Nothing! I was just–"

"Are you trying to say my size makes me less of a summon?"

"That's not what I meant at all–"

"I guess I'll just leave. Why don't you summon one of my brothers instead, if they're so much _better–_ "

"Gamaden, please!" Minato had nearly forgotten how sensitive some of the toads could be. Behind him, Naruto was badly hiding his snickering. Traitor. "I have a very important message for Jiraiya-sensei. For his eyes only. There's no toad I'd rather trust with it than you, Gamaden."

Minato knew he was laying it on a bit thick. But he also knew that Gamaden was as proud as he was sensible. "Only me, huh? ...Fine." The toad hesitated, looking at Minato closer. "Aren't you that Minato brat? Jiraiya's student? Haven't seen you in a while."

"Right," Minato said, smiling sheepishly. "I was… occupied. For a while." He pulled out the message he had prepared and passed it on to Gamaden. He hoped that it was proof enough for Jiraiya that Minato had been able to summon the toads, but just in case he reached for one of his special kunai as well. "Tell him to send a message back if he wants to be picked up. If not, I'll expect him in a few days."

"Sure thing. Consider it done." Gamaden straightened up proudly before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Minato sighed in relief, glad that that was taken care of. The toads could be exhausting to deal with.

As soon as the toad was gone, Naruto leaped to his feet eagerly. "Are you gonna teach me that? Come on, you promised, you promised!"

"I promised to teach you the basics, Naruto," Minato reminded him gently. "I think it's still a bit early for a technique like this. At least until you graduate the academy."

"Aww! But I can handle it, I swear! Come on old man, how am I supposed to become a great ninja if I don't learn any cool techniques?"

Minato had to smile at Naruto's antics, he couldn't help himself. "Naruto. Do you remember what I told you about your mother?"

"About that one time she flooded T&I?"

Minato had to suppress a snort at the memory. He was the Hokage. He was above such things. "Not quite what I meant. Do you know what her specialty is?"

"Huh? Oh!" Naruto's eyes widened in a beaming expression. "Sealing! You said she was a sealmaster."

"The very best." Minato might have gotten carried away bragging the day before. Who could blame him? His wife was awesome.

"Do you mean you'll teach me _sealing?_ That's so awesome!"

"The basics," Minato reminded him, but couldn't keep the smile off his face. He loved Naruto's enthusiasm. "And I'm being honest with you. If you genuinely want to learn, it won't be easy. Fuinjutsu is somewhat different from other shinobi techniques you can learn. There's a reason you're not taught much about it at the academy."

He fetched the stack of beginner's scrolls and books he had picked up from the library earlier, and Naruto's face fell. "Do I have to read those?"

"I'm afraid so. You need to get a good grip on the theory before you can try practical exercises. If you do it wrong, fuinjutsu can be quite destructive." He didn't say that it could be destructive when done right, too. In fact, sometimes its sole purpose was to be as destructive as possible. But there was no need to have him strive after Kushina too much.

Naruto looked at the stack of books with a pout. Apparently the prospect of learning his mother's favored technique was stronger, because eventually he reached for the first one.

"Feel free to ask if you have any questions." Minato settled down opposite of him with his notes, using the opportunity to study his seal some more. He knew that Kushina was doing the same in the past, and between the two of them he was optimistic to find a solution to stabilize it.

Fuinjutsu came as easy as breathing and soon Minato lost himself in his studies. The seal was a tangled mess, but it was _fascinating_. It was only after he'd filled two sheets of paper that he noticed how quiet it was. Too quiet, considering Naruto was in the same room.

He glanced up and saw Naruto frown at his book, his lips moving quietly. He hadn't reached further than the first few pages. "How's it going?"

Naruto didn't answer immediately, the corner of his mouth tugging downwards. He threw the book one last scowl before leaning back, crossing his arms. "I don't get it," he admitted.

"What don't you get?"

"Just," Naruto gesticulated helplessly. "Everything. That book is far too complicated! How's anyone supposed to get that?"

"Okay," Minato said, picking up the book with a frown. He had chosen this particular one because it explained the fuinjutsu basics in the most simple terms possible. An academy student in his last year should have no problem understanding it. "Perhaps try a different one?"

It was the same with the others. In the end Minato decided to take it into his own hands. If Naruto couldn't learn what he needed to know from the books, Minato would just have to do it himself. If he wasn't able to teach his son – an _Uzumaki_ – the fuinjutsu basics, what kind of sealmaster would he be?

* * *

Minato tried. Over the next few days he kept taking time out of his day to try and explain to Naruto the basics of fuinjutsu, again and again in a different way each time. He could tell that Naruto was making an effort, that he was _trying_ to understand. But no matter what they did, they didn't get a step further.

Naruto was getting frustrated.

"I can't do it." He tossed away the notes Minato had drawn him as demonstration, crossing his arms and scowling. His fists were clenched tightly enough to tremble. "This is useless. I don't get it."

Minato sighed, sitting back with a thoughtful frown. Naruto was right. At the pace they were going, it would be weeks until there was real progress. He didn't know what else to try: Minato had done his best to keep his explanations as simple as possible, and yet Naruto had trouble to grasp what looked so _easy_ to Minato.

It hit him then. "Of course," he sighed, suppressing the urge to slam his head into the nearest wall. He was so stupid. "I'm sorry, Naruto."

"What for? I'm the one who's not getting it." The frustration in Naruto's voice made Minato feel even worse than he already did.

"It's not your fault," he said, "I'm afraid I got carried away. I tried to teach you the way _I_ learned it. Studying and memorizing."

Naruto stole a glance at the books. He wrinkled his nose in distaste and Minato had to laugh. "Yeah, I noticed you're not a fan." He took a moment to collect his thoughts, then grabbed for another piece of paper. "Alright. Let's try something else. Can you tell me examples of what you can use fuinjutsu for?"

Naruto straightened up and furrowed his brows in concentration. "Uhh… Oh! I know! That's how you make explosive tags, right?"

Minato winced. One thought of Kushina cemented the decision that he would _not_ trust his son with anything even remotely explosive. "Right. That's one option. Do you know another?"

He waited patiently while Naruto thought. It was a stark contrast to teaching Kakashi, and Minato couldn't help but to prefer this over a 5-year-old child genius. He loved Kakashi, but he'd been an exhausting student to teach.

"Uh! How about storage seals?"

"Yes! Good one, Naruto." Harmless and as easy as seals could get. Perfect. Minato sketched out the most basic storage seal, making sure that Naruto was watching. "Each component serves a different purpose," he explained, "and the way the seal functions can change with the smallest difference."

With the seal finished, he laid the pen at its center. "You activate it with chakra, and if you didn't make any mistakes…" The pen disappeared in a puff of smoke, safely stored. "Now you try."

Naruto looked at him rather alarmed. "To make a storage seal? I was supposed to remember how you drew it?!"

"No, no! Don't worry. I meant to use your chakra and activate the seal."

"Ohh. Okay." Naruto did as he was told and managed to get the pen back easily. "There! And now?"

Minato dug through his mountain of notes – he'd only been here a few days, how was it already as messy as back home? – pulling out a sheet of paper he had prepared earlier. It was a list of base components.

Naruto caught sight of it and groaned, recognizing it. "I thought we were done with the memorizing."

"We are," Minato said, "we're trying something different. See this component?" He pointed it out on the list and proceeded to alter the storage seal. "Now watch."

This time when the pen disappeared, the puff of smoke was dark red. "Now, I want you to take the seal and experiment for a bit. Just add or leave out certain things, and see what happens."

Trial and error. It was closer to Kushina's style than his own and would, hopefully, fit Naruto better. He should have known that Naruto wasn't booksmart or naturally inclined the way Minato was, but damn him if that was going to stop him.

Ten minutes later, when Naruto had caused his first (minor) explosion, Minato was having second thoughts. He didn't even know how Naruto had managed it with only the most basic and harmless components, although it meant he definitely took after his mother.

The seal in his palm gave an angry twitch, reminding him that the stasis seal he had slapped on top of it wouldn't hold forever. He hadn't dared to alter the seal itself, and had decided on the most basic and weak stasis seal. Even that had been a risk, but one Minato had been willing to accept.

He watched Naruto play around with the storage seal – perhaps a bit too enthusiastically – and couldn't keep a frown off his face. Time was running out, and he'd have to tell Naruto the truth soon. Minato closed his eyes, clenching his fist helplessly. He had only just gotten to meet his son. He didn't want to leave.

* * *

A/N: Beta'd by the wonderful **To Mockingbird** , **PyrothTenka** and **Igornerd**!

Let me know what you think!

~Gwen


	7. Chapter 7

**Time Flows Like Ink**

 **Summary:** After a fuinjutsu experiment gone wrong, Minato is yanked into a future where his family is dead, his team fell apart and the Uchiha were slaughtered. With the defective seal burning in his palm, Minato struggles to stay afloat in a Konoha that isn't his.

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Minato was not a violent person. He was a more than capable shinobi – he hadn't become Hokage for nothing – with a flee-on-sight order in several countries, oh yes. But he was not fond of unnecessary violence and prefered to solve conflicts diplomatically.

That all being said, the more time he spent in this odd future with Naruto, the more his peaceful nature was challenged.

Add to that the weariness of several sleepless nights and Minato was uncharacteristically irritable. He hadn't dared to go to sleep since the seal had started to tug at his hand, unwilling to be caught unaware. In all honesty, he was surprised he had managed to suppress it so far.

He knew that he couldn't postpone telling Naruto the truth for much longer. Things just kept getting in the way.

Minato had practiced the conversation by himself the entire morning, carefully crafting the best way to tell Naruto that he would have to leave soon. Even worse, that he didn't know when he would be back. For all he knew, another few weeks could pass, or even more than that. He owed Naruto more than to disappear without a word of warning.

By the time Naruto came home from the academy, Minato was determined to sit Naruto down for a talk and get it over with. All his resolve crumbled when he saw Naruto's trembling fists and the frown on his face.

"Naruto?" He stood from his place on the ground and left his notes behind. He hadn't looked at them in at least an hour, anyway. "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

"It's nothing," Naruto said, way too fast. He wouldn't look Minato in the eyes.

Naruto never talked about the academy if he could help it, so Minato had suspected from the start that something about it was bothering his son. Was he being bullied? Minato hadn't seen anything happen so far, but that didn't mean much.

Or maybe Naruto wasn't doing as well in his classes as he could. "Are you having trouble in class?" Naruto winced. Bingo.

It wasn't just Naruto's uncharacteristic silence about the topic that had tipped Minato off. He had also noticed that Naruto couldn't read very well – something he had found out only after he'd tried to make him study fuinjutsu through books, and hadn't made him feel better about the fact in the slightest.

Minato was left wondering how different it would have been with someone there to teach Naruto, someone he could have fallen back on and to support him when he needed it. In the end, it didn't really matter. It was already done, and Minato didn't care much if his son did well in the academy or not.

Now he only had to convince Naruto of that.

"Have people been giving you trouble?"

Naruto scowled. "Like I care. They're all stupid anyway."

"What exactly are they doing?"

Naruto shrugged, still not looking at him. "I'm supposed to live up to your name or whatever."

"Is that what they've been saying?" Minato sighed, dragging his hand through his hair. He was not an easy person to be compared to.

"It's not a big deal," Naruto muttered.

"Naruto, I–"

"It's not a big deal!" Naruto yelled, his fists clenched and his voice trembling. With anger? Frustration? Minato couldn't quite tell.

Before he could think of anything to say, Naruto stormed into his bedroom, leaving Minato to contemplate whether he should go after him or leave him alone for a while. Naruto had never lashed out at him before, but surely that wasn't out of the ordinary for a teenager? He had only his genin team to go by.

Minato frowned, deciding that maybe Naruto just needed a bit time for himself.

He'd get the hang of this parenting thing eventually.

It was only later at the library that he realized he had forgotten to have the talk. Again.

But he couldn't stop now. He was in the middle of studying a new lead concerning the seal, there was no way he could leave just like that! He would just have to finish this quickly and track down Naruto immediately after.

A few hours later Minato was torn out of his studies by Kakashi. "Minato!" he called out as soon as he caught sight of him. "There you are."

Kakashi's tone of voice put Minato on edge. "What's wrong?"

"Naruto is gone."

"Gone? What do you mean, gone?"

Kakashi nearly stumbled over his words, quickly as he tried to get them out. "He stole a forbidden scroll from the archives and ran. The Hokage sent out shinobi to find him. They've been looking for a while, but so far no luck."

Minato leaped up, abandoning his notes and research papers in a heap. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

"I found out myself just now. I suspect the others didn't know where to find you."

Minato suppressed a curse, grabbed for Kakashi's arm without any more preamble and teleported. Did it count as overprotective to put a Thunder God seal on his son? Oh well.

They appeared in the forest and Minato felt his blood boil as he caught sight of Naruto, bruised, dirty and cowering behind a tree. His eyes widened as they fell on Minato.

"Dad! I-Iruka-sensei, he's…"

Minato followed his glance, seeing the fight going on behind Naruto's hiding place. Neither of the men seemed injured, but the fight was getting more intense by the second. He didn't bother to ask for details. He dashed forward in a flash and had both of them immobilized and bound with ninja wire in the wink of an eye.

He knelt back down next to Naruto, checking him for injuries. The two figures bound and gagged behind him could be glad when he didn't find any serious ones. "What happened?" Minato winced. That had come out harsher than he had planned.

Naruto winced and avoided eye contact instead of answering.

"Naruto," Minato said, softer this time.

"The graduation exam was today!" Naruto burst out.

Minato blinked, both in surprise and confusion. A tiny spark of hurt flared up in his chest at his son not inviting him. Or even mentioning it. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I failed, alright? They were right. I didn't want you to watch." To Minato's alarm, he could see tears forming in Naruto's eyes.

"Who's right?"

"Just… people."

Minato grabbed one of Naruto's wrist, squeezing it reassuringly. "Is this about what we talked about before?"

Naruto grimaced, but nodded. He still wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Naruto, please." Minato waited until Naruto was looking at him. "Tell me?"

"'s just. They say someone like you deserves someone better. That you were a prodigy and that you shouldn't have such a f-failure as a son." Naruto's voice faltered and made anger churn in Minato's gut. This time the villagers' had gone too far. Their behavior had actively put Naruto in danger.

"It doesn't matter to me, Naruto. They shouldn't say any of that to you. Just… Please trust me on this." He felt like a broken record at this point, but what else could he say?

"But why did you steal the scroll?" Kakashi chimed in, making Naruto frown.

"It was Mizuki-sensei, that bastard! He lied to me. Told me I'd only have to master a technique from the scroll and they'd _have_ to let me graduate." He hesitated. "Iruka-sensei found out. Mizuki-sensei just wanted the scroll for himself."

Naruto's mouth twisted, holding back words he didn't want to speak out loud. "Please, Naruto. Tell me everything?"

"He told me about the fox." Naruto's voice had changed. It was stiff, cutting off before he could ask the questions Minato saw in his eyes. One of them was probably why Minato had put that burden on him.

If only Minato remembered doing so.

He sighed, admitting defeat. He had planned to have this conversation days ago, but he wished the circumstances were different. "I need to tell you something. As soon we're home, I promise. No more secrets."

Naruto hesitated, then nodded.

"Kakashi," Minato said, "please bring Naruto to the hospital. I'll take care of the rest." He took a look at his two prisoners. "Erm."

He sent a sheepish look to his son. "Which one of them is Iruka?"

Naruto pointed at the brown-haired of the two, his expression lighting up in enthusiasm. "Iruka-sensei was so cool! He fought Mizuki-sensei to save me!"

It looked like Minato would have to apologize for his rough treatment. Oh well.

"Oh, and one last thing," Minato said, barely stopping Kakashi before heading off to the hospital. "Naruto. Did you manage to master one of the techniques?"

Naruto's face split into a grin. "I did!"

Minato matched his expression with a proud smile and ruffled his hair. "Nice job. See you at your apartment."

Kakashi dashed off, taking Naruto with him and leaving Minato with the scroll and the two still bound shinobi.

It was only then, after his son had already disappeared with Kakashi, that Minato belatedly realized something. Naruto had called him 'Dad'.

Kunai in hand and approaching the two bound shinobi, Minato had to smile.

* * *

Much to Minato's frustration, he could not simply deliver Mizuki to T&I and leave the rest to Iruka. They would not budge on keeping him involved, both because he had been the one to apprehend Mizuki and because it had been his son who had fallen victim to him in the first place.

At least Minato had been able to thank Iruka properly for saving Naruto, although to his great alarm, the teacher had looked close to fainting after Minato had finished. Apparently he was not yet used to the idea of the Fourth Hokage running around the village, much less thanking him for saving his son.

It got even more annoying when Minato was told that they'd need him the next day, too. Right at the time, as it turned out, when Kakashi would be testing his potential new genin team – which included Naruto. Not that Naruto knew anything about that yet.

By the time noon had passed Minato was finally free to leave T&I and hurried outside, eager to teleport home. He was anxious to know how it had went – Kakashi hadn't told him what kind of test he would use, but Minato could take a guess – and he still had to sit down with Naruto to have their talk. At this point it was getting ridiculous how it kept being postponed.

Of course, the universe couldn't stop conspiring against him and, yet again, put an obstacle in his way.

"Minato."

He stiffened, putting on a neutral expression before facing his old teacher. "Sensei."

Jiraiya didn't look well. His hair was unkempt and his clothes ruffled, dark shadows under his eyes giving him an air of exhaustion. He looked like he had travelled all the way to Konoha without a single day of rest.

"I gave you the kunai for a reason. I could have picked you up."

Jiraiya shrugged. "I thought the trip would be a good idea." He hesitated, then added, "A dead student doesn't come back to life every day."

Jiraiya believed him, then. Minato wondered how long he had argued with the toads upon receiving his message, trying to find an explanation other than the truth.

"Minato, I–"

"Why weren't you here?"

That took Jiraiya aback. "I– What?"

Jiraiya was unnerved by his emotionless expression, Minato could tell. He couldn't bring himself to care. "Naruto was right here. Growing up on his own. Where were you?"

Jiraiya winced. "Minato, look… I…" He broke off with a sigh. "I don't have an excuse."

"Yeah," Minato said, dragging his hand through his hair. "I've heard the same thing from Kakashi." He caught Jiraiya's gaze and a small part of him wanted his next words to hurt. "Except he was a fourteen-year-old boy. You were an adult and Naruto's godfather."

Jiraiya flinched at that. His voice shrank to a whisper. "I deserve that."

And just like that all of Minato's anger evaporated. He didn't have the desire nor the energy to fight about this. He was just so tired. "I don't have time for this. There's a reason I asked you to come."

What he needed were answers. The more information he had about what had gone wrong in this horrible future, the bigger was the chance for him to change it. Even if Jiraiya had been outside the village at the time, Minato couldn't imagine him _not_ keeping up to date with what was going on in Konoha. And despite everything, he was one of the few people Minato trusted to tell him the truth.

"The situation back then wasn't easy," Jiraiya admitted. "The Uchiha's standing in the village was steadily deteriorating, most people could see that."

"Are you saying the stress of it all could have been too much for Itachi?" That felt like a weak reason for slaughtering an entire clan.

"It might have been part of it." Jiraiya looked into the distance, thoughtfully. "I wasn't there myself, so I can't tell you for sure. I do know that Itachi wasn't just an ANBU. Up until he went mental, he received orders right from the top. The elders tend to forget that their shinobi are still human."

Jiraiya might have had a point. From the sounds of it Itachi was put into a position with his clan on one side, and Konoha on the other. Had the decision been too much for him to handle?

"What else has been going on?" Minato asked.

"I suppose you mean beyond the village borders." Jiraiya paused, directing a thoughtful glance into the distance. "Well, our so called 'peace' is as fragile as it can get. Kiri is still recovering from a civil war, but the other villages are just itching to start another conflict." He caught Minato's glance. "And that includes Konoha."

They took to the rooftops, away from curious ears. Minato directed them towards Naruto's apartment.

"And that's not even mentioning the minor villages. They're growing restless, Minato. Too much blood spilled within their borders. I have my eyes set on Ame right now, and it's not looking good."

"Ame?" Minato asked. "Isn't that where–"

"Yeah." Jiraiya sighed. "I lost track of them years ago. With so much going on, they might easily be dead." He chuckled humorlessly. "You have no idea how much I regret not keeping in contact."

Perhaps it wasn't too late for that, either. Minato realized that three orphan children most likely wouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things. But if it would put Jiraiya more at ease, Minato could at least try.

"Your turn," Jiraiya said. "You haven't told me yet how it can be that I'm talking to you at all."

Minato raised his palm, letting Jiraiya take a look. "Fuinjutsu technique gone wrong. The seal activated on its own and burned itself into my palm. Whenever it starts tugging, it… It…" Minato trailed off, staring at his palm in horror. No. No, not now!

"Minato? What–" Jiraiya yelped in surprise as Minato grabbed his arm, teleporting straight into Naruto's apartment. Naruto nearly fell off the couch, still not quite used to the technique.

"D-Dad? Who's that?"

"There's no time." Minato took a breath, quickly collecting his thoughts. He just had the worst timing. "Listen to me, Naruto. This is Jiraiya, your godfather. Yes, I know," he cut off Naruto's interruption, his son's eyes widened in surprise, "but you'll get to know him now. He'll take care of you for a bit."

"I will _what?_ " Jiraiya stared at him, completely taken aback.

"You heard me." Minato pierced him with a glance, not leaving room for protest. Jiraiya owed him this much. The seal grew hotter, shaking off the last effects of the stasis seal and Minato leaped up to gather up the most important notes he had collected. He started to speak faster.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. I haven't told you everything. I can't stay any longer. This," he held up his hand, "is leaving me no choice."

"Wh-What? You're leaving?" Naruto stared at him in disbelief. "But… W-Will you be back?"

Minato finished stuffing the paper in his bag and swept the room with one last glance. Not finding anything else important, he dropped down next to Naruto. "I will. But I can't say when." He pulled Naruto into a hug, feeling him go stiff instead of returning it. The seal was hot enough to hurt.

"Tell Kakashi and Rin what happened," he forced out, not even sure if he was talking to Jiraiya or to Naruto.

"But– Wait!" Naruto yelled, and it was tearing Minato apart. "You can't leave now! I just had my graduation test – the real one, why do they call the other one graduation exam if it's not, anyway – and guess what! It was Kakashi! I mean, Kakashi-sensei! And we did it! I have to tell you about it, you can't _leave!_ "

Minato could feel his eyes prickling. The corner of his mouth tugged down, making his smile feel forced. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I'm so proud of you, you have no idea. But I don't have a choice."

"... But you'll come back?"

"I will. Just wait for me." Keeping the smile on his face hurt, but Minato tried his best.

The seal was ablaze and Minato felt a yank. Before it could whisk him away, he felt a weight crash into him.

Everything was a blur, gravity didn't exist, and the familiar feeling of dizziness kicked in as Minato lost track of his surroundings. Something was different. Something was wrong.

He realized that at this rate he would crash into a stranger's house. The seal he had placed in Kushina and his apartment tugged at his senses, barely within range, and he reached for it, changing direction.

The world zoomed back into focus and Minato crashed to the floor in the middle of their apartment.

"Minato. You're… here."

His head was still spinning, but Minato felt like he should be insulted at the lack of enthusiasm in Kushina's voice. He looked up and froze.

Staring at him were Kushina and Mikoto, both sitting on their couch, holding tea cups. "Hello, Mikoto," he brought out, going for cheerful and missing by a mile. "You're back from your mission."

"Hello, Minato. You look well, for someone supposedly bedridden."

Next to her, Kushina looked conflicted between burying her face in her hands and breaking out into hysterical laughter.

"Do tell," Mikoto went on, still in that pleasant, polite tone of voice that felt ridiculous considering he was still lying on the ground in an undignified heap. "Why is there a kid lying on top of you?"

Just like that, all the remaining fog cleared. Minato's head snapped down and there, sprawled over his stomach and looking as dazed as he felt, was Naruto. His son gave a moan, not looking like he would get up any time soon.

Minato let his head fall back to the ground. "... I can explain," he said weakly, contemplating how to explain that this was absolutely not his fault in the way that was the least likely to attract Kushina's wrath.

"... Dad. Where are we?"

Mikoto and Kushina's eyes widened at the word 'Dad'. Kushina's teacup slipped out of her grasp and shattering on the ground.

It was at this point that Minato accepted his fate. His wife was going to kill him.

* * *

A/N: Beta'd by the wonderful **To Mockingbird** , **PyrothTenka** and **Igornerd**!

Let me know what you think!

~Gwen


	8. Chapter 8

**Time Flows Like Ink**

 **Summary:** After a fuinjutsu experiment gone wrong, Minato is yanked into a future where his family is dead, his team fell apart and the Uchiha were slaughtered. With the defective seal burning in his palm, Minato struggles to stay afloat in a Konoha that isn't his.

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

Minato was lucky that both of the people present to witness his and Naruto's arrival were shinobi. Shinobi did not lose their composure easily, and because of that, the revelation was not met with hysterical screaming and/or fainting.

He was also lucky that one of them happened to be Kushina. His wife was one of the smartest people Minato knew, and if there was one person capable of improvising and making up excuses on the fly, it was her.

Of course, this particular characteristic proved entirely useless in this specific situation. Because while Kushina put together two and two fairly quickly – realizing that Minato must have been wrong about Naruto's death and that the random kid with her face and Minato's hair was _theirs_ – she was also completely incapable of lying to her best friend.

Or rather, of lying to her convincingly.

"R-Right! Minato, what did I tell you about trying to teleport while you're still sick?" Her scolding tone fell flat as her eyes were far too wide and fixed on Naruto. The spilled tea had formed a puddle at her feet.

"Kushina," Mikoto said, her friend's reaction all that she needed to realize that Kushina knew more than she let on. "What's going on?"

"W-What do you mean?"

"The kid," Mikoto deadpanned. "The kid Minato just teleported into your apartment and who called him 'Dad'."

"Minato cheated on me," Kushina blurted out. Minato had to suppress a pout. Rude!

Mikoto arched a graceful eyebrow. " _Minato?_ Please. Besides, the boy can't be younger than ten. Minato would have had to be thirteen."

Of course, that was the moment Naruto decided to chime in as well. "I'm twelve!"

"He would have had to be eleven," Mikoto corrected, and Minato could tell that it was a lost cause. He heaved a sigh, gently nudging Naruto off of him and sitting up. If he had to have this conversation, he could at least have it in a more dignified position.

"It's alright, Kushina."

"Oh, thank god," Kushina sighed, dropping the pretense and leaping off of the couch to join them on the floor. By the time she flopped down next to Naruto, her face had split into a beaming smile. "It's you, isn't it? You're Naruto!"

"Um." Naruto, his gaze still slightly foggy, leaned away from the over enthusiastic stranger. "Yeah? Who're you?"

Kushina squealed – there was no better word for it – lurching forward and taking Naruto's face between her hands to take a close – far too close – look at him. "Figured. Of course you'd get most from him, that's just typical. Lucky about the eyes, _no one_ has a prettier eye color, you know. Too bad about the hair. _How_ did he win out over the Uzushio genes? That's just not fair, you would have made a marvellous redhead."

"U-Um. Dad?"

Minato bit his lower lip to keep himself from laughing out loud. Naruto shot him a help-seeking glance, not daring to pull away from who must seem like a lunatic to him. "Kushina, dear. Maybe introduce yourself first. You're scaring him."

"Scaring him? I'm not scaring–" Kushina broke off as she took in Naruto's wide eyed stare and pouted. She did, however, let go of Naruto's face. Her pout only grew worse when Naruto scrambled backwards, bringing distance between them and planting himself next to Minato.

"Who's that crazy lady?"

Kushina drew an indignant breath. " _Crazy?_ Who are you calling crazy here?!"

"Kushina. Sweetheart. Introductions first, don't you think?"

"Wait!" Naruto stared up at him, then back at Kushina with rapidly widening eyes. "You keep calling her 'Kushina'. Does that mean…? Is that…?"

Kushina sobered up at that, dropping to her knees and beaming widely. Minato thought he could see her eyes dampening.

"Hello, Naruto. My name is Uzumaki Kushina. I'm your mother."

For a moment, Naruto didn't react. He stood frozen, eyes wide and mouth open with no sounds coming out. Minato could tell that Kushina was getting nervous. Her smile began to falter, insecurity creeping into her frame and making her shift restlessly.

"I- I mean. I'm sure Minato told you about me. He did, didn't he? Still, I know this is a lot, I mean, I have no idea what it feels like, I thought you were dead until today. Dead in your version, you're not even born here, and– Er…"

Luckily, Kushina broke off at Minato frantically waving his hands behind Naruto's back. Before he got around to breaching the topic of time travel to Naruto, it was probably not a good idea to mention that Kushina was currently pregnant with him.

"Naruto?" he asked gently, laying a hand on Naruto's shoulders when he still wouldn't say anything. This must have been a lot to take in.

"I have a mom." Naruto's voice was nothing but a whisper, but it was enough to make Kushina straighten up and send warmth through Minato's chest.

Finally, the impossibility of the situation caught up with Kushina, and disbelief crept into her voice. "And I have a son."

Naruto's face split into a grin, and he launched himself at Kushina. "I have a mom!"

"Naruto," Kushina brought out as she caught him, arms closing around him in a firm hug. She laughed, disbelief and wonder caught up in it and the most wonderful sound Minato had ever heard.

This was his family. The first time that all of them were together.

All of them, plus Mikoto. Minato's attention was drawn back to her as she discreetly removed herself from the heartwarming meeting, walking towards their kitchen.

"Mikoto? Where are you going?"

Mikoto turned, a pleasant smile on her face and ever so collected despite the surreal scene going on in their living room. "Refilling my cup. I have the feeling we will be here for a while."

* * *

"So we're in the past?!"

"He's from the future?"

Naruto stared at Minato with wide eyes and even Mikoto's composure had begun to crumble. Considering the circumstances, it honestly wasn't surprising. Minato could probably be glad that no one had declared him mental yet.

"I wasn't lying about the training accident," he said, showing Mikoto the palm of his hand. "That's exactly what happened."

Mikoto raised an eyebrow. "You simply left out the part of being transported to an entirely different time period."

Minato went for an appeasing grin and missed spectacularly. Kushina, on the other hand, was entirely unapologetic.

"The first time it happened we didn't know anything about the seal. For all we knew it could have been an isolated event." She raised an eyebrow. "Besides, do you really want to know what some of the council members would have wanted us to do with it?"

"Point taken." Mikoto took a moment to collect herself. "Are you planning to keep it a secret?"

"I don't think we can. At least not for much longer." Minato sighed. "Some of the problems that have to be fixed are just too big for one person alone."

"Like?" Mikoto asked.

Minato thought of empty streets and empty houses, the Uchiha crest a relic of the past. A lump formed in his throat. "Not here," he murmured with a pointed look towards Naruto.

Naruto, who looked at them like they were all crazy. "We're in the _past?_ "

Minato gave him a – hopefully – calming smile. "I'm afraid so."

Naruto frowned like he was trying to put together a particularly difficult puzzle. "So… When you said that you were gone for twelve years–"

"I was. I came from here, from this time. I couldn't control how far the seal would bring me."

"But why aren't you there in my time?" Naruto frowned, and Minato shared a glance with Kushina and Mikoto. This wasn't a subject he looked forward to discuss, but how could he not? Naruto deserved an answer. "Nobody told me _anything_ about you. I didn't even know your names until you told me!"

"Nothing?" Mikoto asked. "You didn't know anything about your parents?"

"I know now that they're super badass ninja!" Naruto practically glowed, making Kushina beam and Minato smile proudly.

"They definitely are," Mikoto said. "Right until you get to know them. After the fifth fuinjutsu related explosion you start to realize what a miracle it is that the village is still standing. Especially since they started living _together._ "

"M-Mikoto!" Kushina sputtered, her smirk fading into a look of betrayal. "Don't listen to her, Naruto! We're awesome. Well, I am. He's a nerd."

Minato glowered at them half-heartedly. He couldn't believe they were ganging up on him now.

Well, at least they'd made Naruto laugh.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to distract Naruto. "But why _weren't_ you there?" He looked away with a frown. "Is it… Is it because you're dead?"

Minato sighed. "Naruto… Mizuki told you about the fox, didn't he?" Next to him, Kushina straightened up. "What else did he tell you?"

Naruto's frown deepened. "He said that you were the one who sealed it inside of me. Which is weird, because I always thought the Yondaime did it, but whatever. He was right, wasn't he? Why did you do it? Why me?"

How long had Naruto asked himself these questions? Even before he knew about the Nine-Tails, before he knew the reason for his isolation. Minato owed him.

He sighed. "Yeah. Mizuki was right. But so is what you heard before." He cracked a weak smile. "I'm the Yondaime."

Naruto's eyes widened. " _You're_ the–? But that means– Oh." The spark of excitement vanished before it could fully form. "They say the Yondaime died after defeating– after sealing the fox."

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Mikoto stiffen. "I'm sorry," he said, taking Naruto's hand and squeezing it. "That's what people have been telling me, too. It hasn't happened to me yet."

"And it's not going to." Kushina scooted closer to them, a look of determination on her face. "We know what's going to happen – what was _supposed_ to happen – so we can stop it. And we will!"

Naruto didn't react. He met Kushina's eyes, took in the certainty of her words. The confidence in her expression. He turned his head to look at Minato, and he hurried to give Naruto a reassuring glance.

Finally, Naruto nodded. "Okay." The solemn atmosphere shifted as a smile found its way back to his expression. "Can you tell me more stories about you?"

At once, it hit Minato how exhausted he was. The several sleepless nights had taken their toll, as had the excitement of Mizuki, and Naruto's accidental trip into the past. There was so much left they had to take care of.

Minato stifled a yawn and Kushina caught his gaze. She snorted. "Looks like your father is about to drop. Go ahead," she nodded towards their bedroom, "catch some sleep."

"You sure?" Minato didn't want to leave. He wanted to soak it all in, wanted to spend as much time as he could with all of them together. But as of now, he would probably fall asleep on the floor if he didn't move.

"Yeah, why not? You got your share of bonding with him already." Kushina grinned and ruffled Naruto's hair before he managed to lean away. "Now it's my turn."

Minato mustered enough energy to send Kushina an unimpressed look. "Kushina…"

"Go on. Don't worry about us. We'll have a _great_ time."

Minato admitted defeat with a sigh. On his way to the bedroom he came to terms with the fact that by morning, Naruto would know about all the embarrassing stories about him Rin and Kakashi had yet left out.

With Kushina's voice still in his ear – enthusiastic and so, so excited – he couldn't bring himself to care. Minato closed the bedroom door with a smile.

* * *

It was the next day, and with Naruto dead to the world on the couch, Minato finally had the chance to fill in Kushina and Mikoto on the less pleasant details of his trip. They took the news of the Uchiha massacre stoically, Mikoto with an expression carved of stone and Kushina with wide eyes and a grim line to her mouth.

Minato hesitated when it came to reveal the culprit.

"Stop it, Minato." Mikoto's voice was sharp and left no room for protest. "You're thinking of hiding something. Don't."

"I don't know all the details," Minato warned. "This is what people told me. I don't know how much of it is the truth, or how much is missing."

Mikoto nodded, curt and accepting. She visibly steeled herself for what Minato was about to say.

"They said Itachi did it." He paused as Kushina gasped and Mikoto's back went rigid. "Jiraiya, Rin and Kakashi all suspect that there was more behind it. But while his motives are somewhat sketchy, everyone seems to agree that it was Itachi."

Mikoto's mouth formed a white line. "Why? Why would he?"

"I've been told he was an ANBU. More than that, apparently he received orders from the very top. And before the massacre, there was… turmoil between the Uchiha and the rest of the village."

Mikoto looked away. "There's already been disagreements," she muttered. "Some arguments. Animosity between clans. It's nothing new, but you're saying it will escalate to such a degree?"

"People have been very tight-lipped about it," Minato admitted. "All they could tell me were speculations. That the stress was too much for him to handle."

Mikoto huffed a laugh, brittle and humorless. "And so he decided to kill his clan and family? Because of stress?"

"I'm only telling you what I heard, Mikoto."

Mikoto clenched her fists, a rare sign of emotion. "Right. I'm sorry."

"I don't believe it either," Kushina said, taking Mikoto's hand and squeezing. "There's something missing. Someone didn't want anyone to know that they were involved."

"There's plenty of Konoha nin who would prefer the Uchiha out of the picture," Mikoto said, bitterness in her voice and stubborn eyes daring them to disagree.

"And an operation like that would have had to have been massive," Minato said thoughtfully. "If we assume that somebody planned the massacre, it couldn't have been over a short period of time."

"When is it supposed to happen?" Kushina asked.

"Only a few years from now."

"Are you considering that whoever is responsible has already started planning?" Mikoto asked, doubt painting her voice.

"Maybe not," Minato allowed. "But the intention must already be there. You don't decide to wipe out an entire clan on a whim."

They fell into silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts.

"I might have an idea," Minato said, slowly sitting up. "It might not work, but until I can go back and try from the other end…"

"If there's a chance it will save my clan, Minato, tell me."

Minato met Mikoto's eyes and saw fire in them, determination, protectiveness and a glimmer of fear. He set his jaw and they shared a moment of understanding. If the three of them had any say in it at all, the Uchiha clan would live.

And so they schemed, alone in their knowledge of the nearing catastrophe. But if the three of them weren't able to come up with a solution, who else would?

* * *

"Thank you for coming on such short notice," Minato said. "I've summoned you in private because what I'm about to tell you is highly classified. The safety of the village may depend on it. Do you understand?"

Ibiki returned his gaze stoically. "Yes, Hokage-sama."

* * *

Inoichi raised an eyebrow. "Naturally."

* * *

Sarutobi sighed. "Of course, Minato. Although it looks like my retirement is not meant to be."

"Apologies, Sarutobi-san." Minato swallowed down the remainder of bitterness lingering from the Sarutobi of the future. "But I assure you, you'll want to know about this."

* * *

"Is this related to your disappearance several days ago, Hokage-sama?" Katsumi asked.

Minato looked his ANBU commander in the eyes. "It is. Although as of now, I am not able to share all of the details."

* * *

Ibiki's mouth tightened. "I fail to see how I can be of use while lacking vital information."

"I'm asking you to have faith," Minato said, "while I'm trusting in your position at T&I–"

* * *

"–your connection to the other clan heads–"

* * *

"–your expertise in village politics to gain insight on the matter."

"Of course, Hokage-sama," Danzō said. "I have served Sarutobi for years. I will gladly offer my skill set and my experience to you."

Minato's expression betrayed nothing. "I am reluctant to say that I suspect a traitor within the Uchiha clan. Possibly a group."

* * *

"A traitor?"

* * *

"The Uchiha?!"

* * *

"How long have you suspected?" Katsumi asked, her spine rigid.

"Not long," Minato said. "And I need you–"

* * *

"–to keep quiet about it. The information cannot leak, otherwise we risk–"

* * *

"–alerting the traitor and losing our chance to identify them."

"Of course," Inoichi said, a glimmer of doubt in his eyes. "I'll keep my eyes open."

* * *

"I will alert you at once," Ibiki said with a stoic bow.

* * *

Shikaku said nothing, scrutinizing Minato with a sharp glance. He didn't let his expression waver, waiting out Shikaku's response patiently.

"You will have your reasons to keep secrets," Shikaku said, and Minato doubted that he was talking about the traitor. "I trust you to come clean when you need to." He muffled a yawn. "Feel free to take your time with that."

With that he rose and left, leaving Minato to suppress a smile.

* * *

"Alright," Minato said, closing the door behind him. He turned to Kushina and Mikoto with a smirk. "Now, let's wait and see who rises to the bait."

* * *

A/N: *drops into bed after her last hospital shift before New Years*

*realizes she has a chapter to post*

*muffled through a pillow* "... Damn"

Of course, there's nothing I'd rather be doing than sharing the next part of the story with you. :P Be a dear and let me know how you liked it!

Beta'd by the wonderful **To Mockingbird** , **PyrothTenka** and **Igornerd!**

~Gwen


	9. Chapter 9

**Time Flows Like Ink**

 **Summary:** After a fuinjutsu experiment gone wrong, Minato is yanked into a future where his family is dead, his team fell apart and the Uchiha were slaughtered. With the defective seal burning in his palm, Minato struggles to stay afloat in a Konoha that isn't his.

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

They made the decision to keep Naruto hidden from the village and dyed his hair black. Without his sunshine colored hair his resemblance to Minato was a lot more subtle, and with his whisker marks it was easy to write him off to some minor clan. In fact, it was Mikoto who offered to vouch for Naruto. If someone asked, they would tell them that Naruto was a distant cousin of hers, the result of a long forgotten affair of one of her family members outside of Konoha.

The problem would not have arisen at all if shinobi did not have the annoying habit of bursting into each other's houses without knocking or any other form of common courtesy. ANBU in particular were incredibly guilty of this.

Catching up with his duties as the Hokage was tedious as always, although it could have been far worse. Kushina had done a splendid job while he was gone – not that Minato had ever doubted her.

Kushina herself – unsurprisingly – spent most of her time at home, with Naruto. The two of them thrived in each other's company, although their mutual mischievous streak made Minato worry about Naruto's cover as well as how long their apartment would remain intact. Or, in fact, the village as a whole.

"K-Kushina, please," he said when he found the two of them on the floor, engulfed in what looked suspiciously like an advanced – and incredibly _creative_ – explosive tag. "You can't teach our twelve-year-old son destructive techniques like that."

Kushina blinked. "Why not?"

"Dad! Dad, look!"

Minato turned his head. His eyes widened as he recognized the danger. He snatched the tag out of Naruto's hands and leaped back, successfully protecting his son from the blast. Unfortunately for him, it exploded in his face. And was, in fact, no explosive tag at all.

Kushina doubled over from laughing as Minato spit out the bright orange powder that now covered his face. And most of his clothes. And their living room floor.

"I-I told you he'd fall for it!" Kushina dissolved into another bout of laughter, leaning on a giggling Naruto next to her.

Naruto laughed, his eyes twinkled with the same glee that his mother sported.

"Yeah, yeah," Minato said, ruffling his hair to shake off the worst of the mess. He didn't quite manage to hide his smile. "Very funny. Whose idea was it?"

"Mine," Kushina shamelessly admitted, and put one hand on Naruto's shoulder. "But he made the tag all on his own."

"You did?" Minato's face split into a grin, and he ignored that it was probably expected of him to scold his son. Wasn't that how parenting worked? "Well done, Naruto!"

Naruto beamed with pride, and it made it worth every minute that Minato spent getting rid of the powder afterwards.

He was silently glad that he had managed to make all traces of it disappear by the time Mikoto showed up at their door, bringing along her youngest son. "Hello, Mikoto," he said before leaning over the small bundle that was Sasuke. "And hello, Sasuke."

Sasuke was pointedly unenthusiastic about Minato's cheerful voice.

"Still not warming up to strangers, is he?"

"Strangers?" Mikoto chuckled, walking past him into the apartment. "He threw a tantrum the last time Fugaku tried to hold him. Sometimes I feel like he barely tolerates me. He only likes his big brother so far, isn't that right, Sasuke?"

Sasuke didn't deign to answer her.

"He's been holding up alright then? When you were away on your mission?"

"It was only three days. Fugaku managed just fine." She settled down on their couch with Sasuke in her lap. "Tell me, where's–"

"GET BACK HERE, YOU BRAT!"

"–nevermind."

Naruto came sprinting into their living room, steering towards Minato and nearly running him over in the attempt to hide behind him. "Dad! Save me!"

"What did you do?" Minato asked even as he turned to shield Naruto from his furious mother.

"Um." Naruto swallowed, rubbing his neck sheepishly. "Well…"

"He tried to prank me!" Kushina yelled, sliding to a halt in front of them. "Me! Can you believe it?"

"I wasn't fast enough," Naruto admitted with a pout, and Minato bit his lip to hold back a laugh.

"He's your son," Mikoto said with a smile, "what did you expect?"

"Oh, hey Mikoto," Kushina said. Her eyes immediately zoomed in on the baby. "Ohh, you brought Sasuke! Hello, Sasuke! Do you remember me?" She proceeded to make faces to try and make him laugh. She was as unsuccessful as Minato had been.

Meanwhile, Naruto's eyebrows shot upwards. "Did you say Sasuke?"

Oh, right. Minato had nearly forgotten.

"Do you know him?" Mikoto asked, surrendering to Kushina as she pulled Sasuke out of her arms.

Naruto stared, shell shocked at seeing his former – or future? – classmate as an infant. "Um. Kind of?"

"They've been assigned the same genin team," Minato added, and predictably, Kushina's face lit up.

"Really? Ohh, I knew it! This was just destined to happen! Mikoto and I have been best friends for years, you know." She stepped closer, holding Sasuke closer to a less than enthusiastic Naruto. "Here, why don't you hold him!"

She didn't wait for Naruto's answer – or rather, ignored his sputtered protests – and ushered him towards the couch, dropping Sasuke on his lap as soon as he was seated. At least she remembered to show him how to support Sasuke's neck. Despite this, Naruto looked equally apprehensive and weirded out at his predicament.

"Aww!" Kushina took a step back, marvelling at the image. "I knew they'd become best friends."

Minato thought back to Naruto's close to daily tirades complaining about the other boy. In the present, Naruto was wrestling with baby Sasuke to keep him from wriggling from his lap, cursing under his breath all the while. "R-Right."

"Any news?" Mikoto asked, talking about their plan from the day before. It sounded more like a courtesy. They all knew that it was too early for anyone to rise to the bait.

"Not yet," Minato said. But now that Mikoto was here, it reminded him... "Before I forget, there's something I wanted to ask you."

Mikoto nodded for him to continue.

"If you're alright with it, I'd like to assign Itachi as Jiraiya's apprentice." Minato had thought about it ever since he'd been confronted with the catastrophe that the Uchiha massacre spelled out, and it was the best solution he'd been able to come up with. Having taught Minato himself, Jiraiya had experience dealing with child prodigies. Minato trusted him with his life, and he definitely trusted him to teach Itachi and keep him away from the conflict that would begin brewing between Konoha and the Uchiha.

Well thought out or not, Minato couldn't blame Mikoto for being sceptical. "He's four," she said, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't mean immediately," Minato assured here. "Of course not. Later, once he finishes the academy."

Mikoto didn't speak for a while, and Minato didn't push. Hopefully, she would have plenty of time to think about it before having to make a decision.

Finally, she threw a glance towards Naruto to make sure he was still distracted. "Do you think that would prevent it?" she asked, keeping her question vague and lowering her voice.

"Maybe," Minato said. "I can't promise it. Jiraiya would take him along on his trips, so at the very least he would spend parts of his childhood away from Konoha." Away from the conflict, he didn't say. Away from the toxic environment that the village had become for child prodigies.

"I will think about it," Mikoto allowed eventually. "When is the next time Jiraiya returns to the village?"

"I can't say for sure," Minato said, "but unless he's in the middle of a major operation, I can send a summon for him. You can talk to him yourself and decide then."

Mikoto nodded. "If you would."

"Daaaad…" Naruto's whine pulled Minato away from the conversation, and made him focus back on Naruto. He was still holding an increasingly fussy baby Sasuke, his gaze nothing short of pleading for Minato to save him.

Mikoto was quicker. "Thank you, Naruto. You've done well." She picked Sasuke out of Naruto's clumsy hold, and Naruto practically deflated with relief. Minato wasn't surprised. He'd probably never held a baby before in his life.

But Sasuke wasn't the only connection Naruto had to his own time.

"Naruto," Minato said, before something else could come up, "you remember Rin and Kakashi, right?"

"Cause I do," Naruto said. "Right! I forgot! You didn't get to see, but Kakashi-sensei's my jōnin teacher now! He told us he got the bell test from you, is that true?"

Right. With everything that had happened Minato had almost forgotten, but Naruto had already finished his graduation exam. Kakashi had told him far earlier, of course, but he'd taken great care to keep from ruining the surprise.

Minato was kept from answering by an excited squeal. "Kakashi's your jōnin instructor?" Kushina asked, beaming at their son.

"He made us wait hours until we could take his stupid test," Naruto grumbled, not at all sharing his mother's enthusiasm.

Kushina's eyes widened. " _Kakashi_ did?"

"He was late for the academy, too," Naruto said, scowling. "We were the last team to be picked up. We always have to wait on him when he's late!"

"... We're talking about the same Kakashi here?" Kushina said, throwing a doubtful glance at Minato.

"Afraid so," Minato said, smiling. "But what I wanted to ask: Naruto, would you like to meet him? And Rin and Obito?"

Naruto's eyes widened. "Meet... Kakashi-sensei? Here?"

Minato hummed in confirmation. "He's just a teenager now. You'll be surprised how much he's changed."

Additionally, it would give Minato the opportunity to study the effects of the changes he made. He'd gotten a small taste of it with Genma and Kakashi: Genma had told him about Rin's death on his first trip, and been confused – almost disoriented – when Minato had brought it up on the second. Similarly, Kakashi's hand had twitched towards his eye when Minato had brought up Obito – even though the second time around, he had never lost his own eye.

It was almost as though they knew on some level that something was different – that something was _wrong_ – but did not realize until somebody pointed it out to them. What would happen with an even bigger change? Kakashi could not possibly forget meeting Naruto in the past, could he?

"Are you going to tell them?" Mikoto asked, drawing Minato out of his thoughts.

"I was going to, yes. Why, do you think I shouldn't?"

Mikoto's eyes slipped to the side, thoughtfully. "Our trap will fail if the truth comes out too early." She hesitated, adjusting Sasuke in her grip. "I trust your judgement. If you think your team can keep the secret, go ahead."

"We can trust them," Kushina said, her voice filled with conviction. "If we ask them to be quiet, they will be. Even Obito can act professional if he wants to."

Right. Obito. Minato felt a twitch in his chest at the reminder that he hadn't been able to prevent one of his students' death. He'd been successful with Rin – sort of, seeing as the person he'd met in the future was hardly the same he'd known – so why had he failed with Obito? What did he have to do to find all three of them alive and well, once he returned?

"I'm gonna fetch them," Kushina said, already on her way out of the door. "Even if we've got a cover story, no need to test our luck." With that she whisked out, leaving the three of them – four, if they counted Sasuke – behind.

"What are you going to do about Obito?" Mikoto asked, correctly interpreting Minato's silence.

"I don't know anyone called Obito," Naruto chimed up. "Is he the one who–?"

"Died. Yeah." Minato sighed. "I don't know yet. I tried keeping them inside the village, but I can't exactly make sure they're obeying when I'm not here."

"It's a lot to ask," Mikoto said, "keeping three capable graduates away from the front lines when Konoha needs every single shinobi it can spare."

"I know." Which was the only reason he hadn't asked Mikoto to do so herself. It would be difficult to justify a request like that to anyone else. Minato looked up to meet Naruto's eyes. "Do me a favor and don't mention it to them, okay? I don't want Obito to know what will happen before I can come up with a solution."

Uncharacteristically solemn, Naruto met his gaze and nodded. "Okay. I won't."

It wasn't much later that loud arguing announced Kushina's and Team 7's arrival. Minato wished that the sound of it wasn't quite as familiar to him as it was.

"Admit it, jerk! I totally mastered that technique faster than you."

"If by 'mastered' you mean 'flung enough kunai that some of them had to hit', then yes. You've definitely mastered it first."

"Boys, please." Rin's voice was strained with barely suppressed exasperation, which told Minato that Kakashi and Obito had been going at it for a while. "It's not a competition."

"It totally is," Kushina said, her cheerfully loud voice carrying through the door even better than Obito's yelling had. "And you're both losing. It's not a victory until you've made the other person cry."

Minato and Mikoto shared a glance.

"Remind me again why I'm letting her babysit my children?" Mikoto asked, drily.

"Why are you asking me?" Minato asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm _having_ one with her."

A glance at Naruto made him rephrase his sentence. "I _have_ one with her. Naruto, don't listen to your mother."

Minato doubted that Naruto had heard. The door swung open and revealed Kushina and the kids, all of them in various states of exasperation, disinterest and outrage. Or, in Kushina's case, amusement.

"Sensei!" Obito yelled before anyone had the chance to start talking. "I totally mastered that exercise you left us last time. Kakashi is just jealous that I beat him for once."

Kakashi left out a huff. "As if Sensei will believe you. Who are you trying to fool?"

"I'm telling the truth! Rin, tell him."

"Mikoto-san," Rin said, smiling politely as she ignored her teammates. "It's nice to see you. And you've brought Sasuke!"

"Who's that?" Kakashi asked, his typical frown fixed on Naruto.

Naruto's eyes widened comically. "You're Kakashi-sensei."

Minato winced, watching Kakashi's expression warp into an incredulity. So much for breaking it to them gently. "Naruto, maybe you should–"

"Are you stupid?" Obito said bluntly, their earlier argument all but forgotten.

"Obito, please–"

"That's Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto said, ignoring both of the team and throwing a glance at Minato. "Seriously?"

"Yes, but–"

"I'm not a sensei," Kakashi interrupted. "Why are you calling me that?"

Minato heaved a sigh. His kids – every single one of them – could be exhausting. "Just listen, all of you." He turned to look at his team in particular. "Kakashi, Obito, Rin. There's somebody I'd like you to meet."

Naruto squirmed, and Minato laid a calming hand on his shoulder. "This is Naruto." A smile tugged at his lips at the name. He loved saying it out loud. "He's our son."

Three equally incredulous stares swayed Naruto's way.

"Sensei," Kakashi deadpanned. "He's our age."

Minato blinked. Right. He should have probably started with the time travel part of his explanation.

Kushina seemed to think so too, as she threw him a frown. "You're doing it wrong. Let me." She turned towards his team. "Brats, listen up. Minato screwed up a Hiraishin seal and flung himself into the future. This is top secret, so don't go blabbing about it."

Minato sighed as the incredulous stares gained in intensity. They would be there for a while.

* * *

Explaining everything to Team 7 turned out far more complicated than explaining it to a calm, attentive Mikoto had been. Even after they'd tentatively bought their story – it hadn't been easy to convince them that they (or rather, Kushina) weren't playing a prank on them – they kept derailing Minato's explanation with questions.

"It just activated on its own? Seals do that?"

"Why didn't you say anything the first time around? You should have told us!"

"What am I like in the future? Eh, Sensei? Tell us!"

Minato carefully but purposefully sidestepped that one.

At least an hour had passed by the time all three of them had (somewhat) warmed up to his admittedly outrageous story. Mikoto's presence helped. While Kushina was always ready to have some fun on their expense, and Minato let himself get swept along from time to time, Mikoto seemed like a calm, rational person who was above that sort of stuff.

Obviously none of the three knew what Kushina and Mikoto had used to get up to, back in the day.

"Kakashi's seriously going to be a jōnin sensei when he's older?" Obito said, his face almost as incredulous as Kakashi's.

"Actually, I'm not sure he will be, now that he knows," Minato said, thoughtfully. "I've changed other things before. Small things. I don't know what it'll be like the next time I go back."

Kakashi's scowl had not wavered once for all the time it had taken Minato to explain. He almost looked like Naruto's presence insulted him on a personal level. "If I'm supposed to become your jōnin sensei, does that mean you only just graduated? You're twelve, and you've only graduated now?"

Naruto crossed his arms and matched Kakashi's glare. "Duh! Everybody's graduating with twelve. Almost everybody."

Kakashi already opened his mouth to snap back but was interrupted by Rin's thoughtful hum. "Is that what Konoha's like when there's peace?"

Minato had to smile. Of course Rin would be the one to put together the pieces the quickest. "You're right. We don't have to constantly send shinobi to the front lines anymore, so they can visit the academy for longer."

"But why?" Kakashi was still frowning. "That's so much wasted time. Nobody should take that long to finish the academy."

"Maybe everybody should," Mikoto said, and coming from her, it gave Kakashi a pause.

"Sensei," Obito said, in a tone far too subdued for his usual cheer. "You haven't told us much else about the future. Or about ourselves. Why's that?"

Trust Obito to be uncharacteristically observant exactly when Minato needed it the least. Although, he supposed, it was better being confronted than to dance around the topic until he found the courage himself.

"There's a reason you told us to stay in the village last time," Kakashi said, following up Obito's question. "Isn't there?"

Minato sighed. "Yes. Yes there is." He sent a help-seeking glance to Kushina. He didn't want to do this alone. "At one point, probably fairly soon from now on, a mission of yours will go wrong. Terribly wrong."

Kushina had taken the cue easily, and went on. "You three are being sent to the front lines, and not all of you... return whole. The outcome has changed once already, but... Not enough."

"I wish I knew more details," Minato said, "but it's difficult to nail down when it changes every time I come back. As far as I can see, the only way to keep you safe – properly safe – is to keep you inside the village."

Minato turned to look at his student. "Even you, Kakashi. Only because I told you that you were Naruto's jōnin instructor before, doesn't mean that can't change the next time I go back. I can't control what's happening. Not the way I'd like to."

There was a moment of silence. Obito broke it first, hesitant and much unlike him. "So... If we don't stay in the village, we'll die? We might? Any of us could?"

"It doesn't matter," Kakashi said, the only sign betraying his emotions being that he glared at the floor and not at them.

"How doesn't it matter?!" Obito said. "They just said we will–"

"We have a duty to fulfill," Kakashi interrupted. "We're shinobi for a reason. We've always known the risks, we've always known that there was the chance of not coming back from a mission. What does it change to be sure?"

Minato wanted to protest. He wanted to convince them of the opposite.

Rin was quicker. "How many other shinobi will have died, just like us?" she asked, quietly. "How many of them during the War? Are you going to tell all of them not to fight?"

"Konoha would lose," Kakashi said. "We'd lose the War, and even more people would die."

Obito's eyes were glued to the floor. "We shouldn't be an exception because you're our teacher."

A lump formed in Minato's throat, and he wasn't sure whether it was from frustration or from pride.

"You knew this would happen," Mikoto said, giving Minato a strained smile. "They're your team."

"Yeah," Minato said, smiling through the burning at the back of his throat. "My team."

He wondered how many of them he'd see the next time he went back.

* * *

A/N: Practical shifts are over, so it's back to school for now. Gonna have my entrance exams next week, so wish me luck! :D

Beta'd by the wonderful **To Mockingbird** , **PyrothTenka** and **Igornerd!**

~Gwen


	10. Chapter 10

**Time Flows Like Ink**

 **Summary:** After a fuinjutsu experiment gone wrong, Minato is yanked into a future where his family is dead, his team fell apart and the Uchiha were slaughtered. With the defective seal burning in his palm, Minato struggles to stay afloat in a Konoha that isn't his.

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

Guilt churned in Minato's gut as he finished packing Kushina's and his travelling bag. The seal had announced its intent to make the next jump soon. It had never been a question that it would transport three, and not two, passengers this time.

Leaving Konoha behind in their absence had not been an easy decision – but it was one that hadn't allowed for many alternatives. Kushina wouldn't have let herself be put on the sidelines, and Minato wouldn't have wanted to try.

Taking her along into the future meant he could introduce her to his (older, battle-hardened) team. They would somehow make do with Naruto tiny, cramped apartment. Possibly, most likely, Minato would have to remind his wife to step back from her minor homicidal tendencies once she heard of some of the finer details of Naruto's childhood he had so far forgotten to mention to her.

Besides, they weren't leaving behind Konoha entirely.

"Will Mikoto be alright?" Kushina asked, her brows knitting together in a frown.

Minato would have loved to reassure her. "... I hope so," he said instead, not exactly soothing, but truthfully.

There were not many people Minato would put his trust in as easily as Mikoto. It did not change the fact that if worse came to worst, there wasn't much she would be able to do. Despite that, Mikoto had not hesitated to agree to Minato's request. They were still waiting for her to return from her last-minute preparations.

Far more complicated than getting Mikoto on their side (as if there was any other place for her to be) was explaining to Naruto what it meant to return to the future.

"What do you mean, things might have changed when we come back?" he asked, a frown on his face.

"Exactly that," Minato said patiently, despite having explained it once already. "We came back to the past knowing what the future used to look like. We might have already changed something, just by being here." Not to mention their deliberate plan to force the perpetrator of the Uchiha massacre out in the open. But Naruto didn't need to know about that.

"But," Naruto paused, his frown deepening. "But we've seen the future. We know what it's like. It's always been this way. How can it be any different than what it is?"

"Actually," Kushina chimed in, "it hasn't always been like this."

"Eh? What's that supposed to mean?"

"I've already made several jumps, remember? Rin wasn't there the first time. She's alive now because of what I changed once I came back." And, hopefully, she would be alive still when he returned.

"So anything could be different?"

"Maybe not everything," Minato said. There wasn't a whole lot they had done, this time around. "Most things are very unlikely to have changed. But in theory? Yes, I suppose."

"Like who I'm living with?" Naruto asked. "Or who's the Hokage? Oh!" His expression brightened up in a wide, enthusiastic grin. "Could you be Hokage again when we get back? Or Mom? Maybe we'll be living in a house when we get back! A really big one, and maybe Uchiha-san will be there and–"

Minato let him talk, although his smile grew increasingly strained. Naruto's rambling obliviously stomped over all the questions Minato had asked himself with Kushina and Mikoto whenever Naruto had not been able to overhear.

Would Naruto's situation have improved at all, once they came back? Would Kushina and Minato be dead, still? Would Mikoto? What about the Uchiha and Rin? Would someone else have died, someone they had not considered at all? What if, what if, what if.

They all looked up as the door opened and Mikoto entered. She paused, then gave a single, curt nod. "It is done."

"It worked, then?" Kushina asked.

"Konoha received a distress signal from the front lines," Mikoto said with a perfectly straight face. "The threat was unknown and time was short, so you two used the Hiraishin to potentially save an entire unit of our shinobi." She paused. "Such a shame that you couldn't spare the time to notify the council. They weren't pleased that they had to learn it from me."

Kushina snorted. "I bet they didn't. Did they try to press you for details?"

"You know how they are," Mikoto said, which Minato took to mean 'they would rather face the combined force of their rival countries on their own than accept that their Hokage had entrusted the Uchiha matriarch with his plans and not them'.

Minato couldn't suppress a frown at the thought of their most recent excuse to have him leave the village. The first time had almost caused a mass panic after only two days. The second time had been riskier still. But a third... Minato didn't doubt that they would have to give a proper explanation by the time they returned.

"Stop moping." Kushina shoved his shoulder. "I can hear that you're overthinking it."

"I'm not," Minato said without conviction.

He hadn't tried to talk Kushina out of joining him because he knew her too well to assume he'd have a chance to succeed. It did nothing to quell the feeling of irresponsibility and guilt that clawed in his chest at the thought of leaving Konoha without a Hokage and without the next best thing – Kushina.

Then again, if it meant that Kushina and he would figure out a way to avert even one of the many things that made the future horrible, it would be worth it. Wouldn't it?

Besides, he trusted Mikoto. He trusted her with his life. He would find it in himself to trust her with his village for as long as it took him and Kushina to work out a solution.

A part of him hoped that it would be the last jump they needed to make, while another recoiled at the thought of having to say goodbye to Naruto. At least the version of him that wasn't yet to be born by Kushina.

Minato paused, catching Mikoto's gaze with his own. The reminder would not be appreciated, but it was important. "Think about the offer I made you, alright?"

As expected, Mikoto's mouth tightened in a frown. She hesitated, then nodded.

In normal circumstances, she would have never agreed to give Itachi to Jiraiya as an apprentice. She would have been determined to have him grow up and train surrounded by his clan, close to his family. Unfortunately, the future wasn't kind enough to give them a choice.

"Be careful," Mikoto said, stepping forward to wrap Kushina in a tight hug. She shared a nod with Minato, then changed her mind and moved to hug him, too. The moment was too brief for Minato to return it before she already moved away.

Mikoto was not a very affectionate person, especially not with anyone other than Kushina.

"Take care of each other." Mikoto's eyes dropped downwards, and her expression lit up. "And you, Naruto." She laid a hand on his shoulder briefly.

Naruto gave her a somewhat hesitant smile. "Yes, Uchiha-san."

Mikoto's smile did not falter, but Minato saw the tension lining her shoulders. He could bet that they were both thinking the same thing. If everything turned out in a way that they'd planned, Naruto would grow up calling Mikoto an aunt, just like Sasuke and Itachi would call Kushina and Minato their aunt and uncle.

They would create their perfect, happy ending. Minato and Kushina would make sure of it.

* * *

Kushina had imagined many things upon arriving in the strange, unacceptable future her son had come from. She'd imagined marching through the village with a righteously burning fire in her chest, confronting each and every person that had done nothing to make Naruto's life less miserable after their death.

She'd imagined cold determination flowing through her veins as she systematically weeded out each and every problem she would not tolerate in any future she would come to live in.

Most of all, Kushina had expected to know exactly what to do the second they arrived. They'd certainly made enough plans, her and Minato and Mikoto.

All of them seemed to have evaporated with the very first breath she'd taken upon their arrival. Her mind was blank. She felt like the breath had been knocked out of her as she looked over the village with an aimless, unfocused glance. Listening to stories didn't compare to seeing it all for herself.

What had they planned to do first, again?

"Mom? Are you alright?" Naruto slipped out from Minato's grasp but didn't reach out to her. Kushina felt Minato's hand at her shoulder, firm and grounding.

 _I'm fine,_ Kushina intended to say, and instead blurted out, "We need to check up on Mikoto."

Minato's expression grew strained. "I told you what happened the last few times."

He had. Kushina didn't need to hear that horrible story a second time. "I know. And since you told Mikoto, she knew what was going to happen. There's no way she wouldn't prevent it."

"... She would have tried," Minato offered, his words making Kushina want to punch him. Mikoto was one of the smartest people she knew. There was no way she would have let anything like the massacre happen a second time, now that she'd known to prepare for it.

Minato saw the stubborn crease between her eyes and he sighed. "Just don't get your hopes up too much."

Kushina didn't need to get her hopes up when she knew her childhood friend better than anyone else. Minato would see for himself, once they'd found her.

Kushina leaped up and onto the nearest rooftop without wasting another breath. Trusting Minato to either stay with Naruto or to bring him along, Kushina took the quickest route towards the Uchiha district that she knew of, uncaring who exactly would spot them on their way. She wasn't planning on hiding from anyone.

And if anyone tried to stop her, well. Kushina held no reservations about working off some of the frustration she felt, especially if somebody so graciously volunteered.

Kushina didn't make it all the way to the Uchiha district. She didn't need to. She caught a glimpse of black hair and matching eyes and jumped, her eyes lingering on the white and red crest as she landed directly in front of the elderly woman. Her mouth pulled into a grin.

"I knew it!" Kushina did not know the woman, besides the fact that she was without a doubt an Uchiha. It did not stop her from pulling her into a tight, enthusiastic hug. "I knew she'd do it!"

"K-Kushina!" Minato landed few steps behind her, Naruto not far behind.

Kushina ignored him. Only now did she realize that another Uchiha – a young, scrawny girl – stood beside them, watching with wide eyes. Not wasting a second, Kushina pulled her into a hug, too.

The old woman sputtered in indignation. "What do you think you're doing!"

Minato wrapped a firm, warm hand around Kushina's arm and pulled her back. She let it happen without losing the grin on her face.

"I am so, so sorry about that," Minato said, pushing Kushina behind him with a pointed look. "Please, don't mind my wife. She's just excited."

"Are you an Uchiha?" Naruto poked his head out from under Minato's arm. "Like Sasuke?"

"Of course she is!" said Kushina, beaming. "I told you Mikoto would do it. She wouldn't have let anything happen. Not while she was there to do something about it." She would have to ask her how she'd done it. Had it been enough to keep an extra eye on Itachi? To nudge him away from the path that had been laid out for him? Or had she ripped out the issue at its root and taken care of the Uchiha's isolation from the rest of the village?

Better yet, perhaps Mikoto had found the culprit behind the conspiracy. Chances were high that their trap had snapped shut during their absence, and Mikoto had decided to take matters into her own hands.

"Let's find her quick," she said, giving Naruto a smirk. "She can tell us everything."

"Kushina," Minato said, his voice an odd tone. Kushina ignored him in favor of the Uchiha woman.

"Where's Mikoto?" she asked in a rush, her body brimming with the need to stop wasting time and to hunt down her friend. If it wasn't for the fact that she needed to be told where to find her, Kushina would have made a break for it already.

Kushina took note of the woman's bemused frown. She held one arm stuck out to hold back her charge.

"You keep saying that name," she said warily, "Mikoto. Is this a joke?"

Kushina's heart dropped into her stomach.

"Why would it be joke?" Minato asked.

Kushina didn't think she could have made her voice work around the dryness in her throat.

"Come on," the woman muttered, yanking at the little girl's arm to get her moving. Kushina jumped in her way before she could leave.

"Wait! Please. It's not a joke. We're actually looking for Uchiha Mikoto." More quietly, Kushina added, "What happened to her?"

The woman looked at them with a long, calculating glance. Then her shoulders dropped, exhaustion seeping into her every pore. "You're him, aren't you?" she said, not quite looking at Minato. "The former Hokage. The one who's had the whole village astir for weeks."

Next to her, the little girl gasped.

"I'm afraid so." Minato forced a horribly strained smile on his face. "I'm not sure how much you know about me, but I – _we_ – are a bit... out of the loop."

Kushina might have snorted at his choice of phrasing, if it wasn't for the urgency that made her want to tear the village to pieces if she didn't get her answers right now. As if sensing her restlessness, Minato reached out blindly to link their hands.

The woman watched them with an expression veiled in reluctance. Then she jerked her head, once. "Fine. Come along, then." She didn't spare them another glance as she grabbed the little girl's hand and started walking.

Kushina shared a look with Minato. With a lump in her throat and worry tugging at her stomach, they set off to follow the two Uchiha towards their home district.

* * *

Kushina didn't know when she'd stopped listening. She held onto the teacup she'd been offered without the intention to ever drink something of it – there was no way she could manage to force anything down her throat – and kept her eyes focused anywhere but the depressingly small number of Uchiha sat in a half circle around them.

Half a dozen Uchiha too old to fight, a few civilians who had never held a kunai before in their life and an even smaller number of shinobi with battle injuries they would never recover from. There weren't any children in their round, but they were assured that there were just under a dozen in the village.

That was all. About twenty people – and none of them shinobi – were left of Konoha's once proudest clan. Mikoto and her husband were just two names on the long list of shinobi who had given their life on that day.

Something prickled at the edge of Kushina's awareness and she ignored it.

She'd known that this was a possibility. She'd known that it was something she had to be prepared for. But actually sitting here, half-listening to the tale of how an entire clan – families, shinobi, the entire police force – were reduced to a scattered group of grieving orphans and widows: Kushina pressed her eyes shut as if that could ever succeed in blocking out what had happened.

"Kushina," Minato muttered, rubbing a hand over her back. He knew her better than to ask how she was doing. "Go on. Take Naruto and find Kakashi and Rin." He nudged her until she rose to her feet shakily. "I can take care of this. Go."

Somewhat hysterical, Kushina thought that at the very least she could finally understand Minato's reaction upon arriving at the memorial after his very first time jump.

She would hold onto Mikoto and refuse to let go for at least an hour once they returned.

"Kushina?"

It was the thought that they _would_ return, that they would be seeing Mikoto again, that tore Kushina out of her paralysis. None of this was permanent. None of this had to happen a second time. They would make sure that it wouldn't.

Kushina managed a shaky nod and laid a hand on Naruto's shoulder. Her son had been worryingly quiet during the whole ordeal.

"Come on, Naruto." Kushina jumped up on the nearest rooftop and shook her head, trying to get rid of a persistent buzzing that had taken hold in it. "Are you alright?"

"Are you?" Naruto frowned, the corner of his lip tugging downwards. "You got all... quiet and shaky in there. You're never quiet."

Kushina paused. _She'd_ been the one who'd freaked Naruto out, not everything they'd heard inside the district? She supposed that having grown up in a Konoha without Uchiha, listening to their extinction would have sounded like little more than a story to him. Kushina meanwhile had known several of them dearly.

"I'm fine," she lied, and gave Naruto what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "Come on. Let's take a look around this place, alright?"

And if anyone stopped them on the way, the chances were high that Kushina had a score to settle with them anyway. She certainly wouldn't complain if somebody gave her a reason to let out some steam at them.

* * *

A/N: Beta'd by the wonderful **To Mockingbird** , **PyrothTenka** and **Igornerd!**

~Gwen


	11. Chapter 11

**Time Flows Like Ink**

 **Summary:** After a fuinjutsu experiment gone wrong, Minato is yanked into a future where his family is dead, his team fell apart and the Uchiha were slaughtered. With the defective seal burning in his palm, Minato struggles to stay afloat in a Konoha that isn't his.

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

Minato let Kushina and Naruto go only reluctantly. He'd much rather go with them than stay behind in the Uchiha compound on his own. He wanted to find his team, hoping that this time fate had treated them somewhat more kindly.

Unfortunately, somebody had to stay and listen. Somebody needed to hear the Uchiha's story, needed to know what they had gone through in this new version of the future that somehow didn't seem an inkling better than the last.

"Please," he said, his voice gentle but insistent. The oppressive silence in the room was making him depressed. "I need to know what happened. Anything you can tell me might help."

"You know nothing?" the woman who'd brought him – Kiku – asked bluntly.

Minato didn't react to her harsh tone. "I know that when I left Konoha twelve years in the past, the Uchiha clan was powerful and striving. My friend Mikoto was its matriarch."

Various reactions flickered through the group. Some expressions tightened. Others twitched in irritation. One person caught Minato's glance and looked away just as quickly.

"I've already heard that she's no longer with us," Minato finished, quietly. "What happened?"

"The Uchiha were slaughtered. That's what happened," Kiku spat out. Her face was pinched with years worth of pain and worry. Minato wondered if she was as old as she looked, or whether grief had carved lines on her face that exceeded her age. "A single person murdered everybody but the few people you see right now."

 _Please don't be Itachi. Please don't be Itachi._ "Do you know who did it?" Minato asked, trying not to dread the answer.

"Yes and no." She paused, staring ahead with grim, bloodshot eyes. "We've seen them. Most of us have. But we've never been able to capture or identify them."

Another difference. Minato's brows knit in a frown. It didn't necessarily mean that Itachi was innocent. Just that he hadn't been recognized during the act. "Mikoto had two children," he continued, his voice subdued. "Are they–?"

Muffled muttering broke out between several of the elders. They all fell silent with a pointed glare from Kiku.

"Alive," she said, her voice – if possible – even more exhausted than before. Under her breath, she added, "For the most part."

Minato blinked. He wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. The rising tension in the room forced him to pick his priorities, and he decided to focus on the assassin, rather than Itachi's fate. He doubted he would be welcome with the Uchiha for much longer, and if it came to it, he wanted to have gotten the most important information out of the way.

Besides, he'd gotten the answer to his biggest question. In this version of the future, Itachi had not been responsible for the Uchiha massacre. He hadn't killed the Uchiha.

The knowledge didn't make Minato as happy as he'd hoped. The massacre had happened regardless, which meant that in the future before this one, the mystery person had been involved just the same. Except they had succeeded in slaughtering every single Uchiha, then. Every one of them, except Sasuke. They hadn't succeeded, now.

The most logical conclusion Minato could draw was one he much rather wanted to violently deny: Itachi hadn't caused the massacre in either future, although he'd been involved in the first. He hadn't decided to kill the Uchiha, but he had helped. He'd made the difference between a clan reduced to a fraction of its members and one wiped out entirely.

Minato tried to force down the nauseous feeling in his gut by reminding himself that Itachi hadn't killed anyone from his clan, this time. Minato hoped that he hadn't.

He didn't know whether to anticipate or to dread the conversation he'd have with Itachi once he was through with the rest of the Uchiha.

"Tell me more about the culprit," he said, forcing Itachi to the back of his mind with effort. "Tell me everything you know about them."

'Everything they knew' didn't turn out to be much at all. Even after pooling their memories of the night together – begrudgingly, reluctant to relive what must have been the worst day of all their lives – Minato had only a rough idea about what sort of person had stood behind it.

"They wore a cloak," one of the Uchiha said, his voice barely loud enough to understand. "A long, black one. And they had a mask."

"There was something red on it, as well," another said.

"No. Those were blood stains," yet another.

"They were silent."

"They didn't speak a single word."

"They made no sound. None at all. It was like they weren't even a person."

"A ghost story," a disgruntled looking elderly Uchiha said. "That's what they are. People kept seeing them, afterwards. Watching us. Like they were waiting for something."

"There's nothing supernatural about them," Kiku spat, in a voice that suggested she'd had this argument many, many times. To Minato, she said, "Even if we wanted to, we couldn't tell you anything accurate about them. They used genjutsu to warp our memories."

Minato swallowed against the dry feeling in his throat. "How so?"

"... I only remember flashes of that night. Fragments. And the feeling of dread in my bones when I even just think of that person."

"It's the same for me," a girl below genin-age whispered.

"Me too."

"I'm still having nightmares."

"They were gone by the time ANBU showed up. Maybe they didn't feel like taking on the rest of the village, as well."

"Maybe they just got bored." The man's eyes sparked cynically.

"They went for the strongest of us, first." A woman, older than the all the others, had her eyes fixed on the ground. She made no attempt to hide the grief in either her expression or her voice. "We are all that are left."

Nobody else spoke. The silence around them was heavy and thick, and Minato felt like he was reliving memories of suffering and death despite not having been present himself.

Eventually, Kiku broke the silence with a whisper. "There's nothing more for you to find out, here. Please go."

Minato easily agreed. He'd torn open enough old wounds for one day and desperately welcomed the break.

He hoped Kushina and Naruto were having an easier time, wherever it was they'd gotten sidetracked with.

* * *

The buzzing in her head was growing loud enough to get irritating. Kushina frowned, shaking her head as if she was shooing off an annoying fly. She had more important things to worry about. Like finding someone – _anyone_ – she knew who had survived this twisted parody of Konoha they'd landed in.

"Where are we going?" Naruto asked, keeping up with Kushina's pace beside her.

"What Minato said." Kushina rubbed at her temples. "To find his team. Or anyone else who can tell us something."

At one point they had left the rooftops and taken to walk through the village. In Kushina's peripheral vision, something shattered on the ground as whoever was carrying it froze in their tracks at spotting her. She ignored them.

The noise wasn't letting up.

"Do you know where to find them? Mom?"

Kushina grumbled under her breath, squeezing her eyes shut. The buzz grew into an insistent pounding inside her head. At the same time, her jinchūriki seal started to itch.

Kushina froze in her tracks, her eyes snapping open. What did the bastard fox have to do with anything?!

"Mom? Are you alright?"

Now that Kushina concentrated, the pounding subsided. The buzzing cleared and revealed something else, something that sounded almost like a voice, like–

– **ina? Kushina!**

She knew that voice. The hair at the back of her neck stood up and Kushina whirled around to find–

"Kushina-san!" Rin landed in front of them, breathless and her face flushed a bright red. Her eyes flickered up and down frantically. As if she expected Kushina to disappear any second and tried taking in as much as she could in the meantime.

Kushina could relate.

"It's you," Rin said, that same air of disbelief and fragile hope hovering around her voice. "Minato brought you with him?"

"Kushina-san." Another figure landed beside her, one eye widened and the other one covered.

Kushina's heart clenched at the sight of it. According to Minato, Kakashi had kept his eye in the version before this. Did this mean they had actually taken a step back trying to change the future?

Her crestfallen expression did not go by unnoticed. Kakashi fidgeted under her gaze, seemingly weighing his options of making a swift retreat. "Kushina-san? Is something wrong?"

Kushina desperately tried to grasp for the right words. Or any. "... We saw the Uchiha." Her voice failed her, and Kushina gave into the urge to leap forwards and pull Rin and Kakashi into a hug.

Both of them went stiff under her touch, but they didn't struggle.

Kakashi was the first to speak, once she let go. "I know this must be difficult. It was for us, back when it happened."

"That's not it." Rin's brows were knit in concern. "Minato would have told you. You're shocked, so he clearly didn't." She paused. "Did something change? Again?"

"Change?" Kakashi asked. "What do you mean, change?"

"Yes." Kushina swallowed past the dryness in her throat. "Yes, it changed. It... it was worse before."

Rin stiffened. The look in her eyes grew hard and unfeeling. "How could it have been worse?"

"It was." Kushina's eyes lowered to the ground as she remembered the haunted look in Minato's eyes and the many times his voice had threatened to break during his retelling of the future. Shamefully, she was glad for not having been there herself. This version was already bad enough.

Next to her, Naruto started to grow restless. Rin blinked as if she'd only just noticed him. Seeing as she'd just reunited with a previously dead Kushina, Kushina found it in herself to forgive her for it.

"Naruto! You're alright." Rin's voice was soft with relief and she reached out to briefly touch Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto squirmed, unsure what to do in response to the touch. "Hello, Rin-san."

Rin offered a small, hesitant smile. "We didn't know what to do when Jiraiya-san told us you'd gone with Minato. I'm glad you're alright." Her smile widened. "And that you got to meet your mother."

Finally, Naruto's mouth pulled into a genuine smile. It dimmed quickly as his eyes focused on something standing further behind them. On someone. "Um. Sensei?"

Kushina couldn't blame her son for his insecurity. Kakashi stared at him without speaking, his visible eye wide with bemusement. When he finally got his voice to work, he only said, "... Naruto."

Kushina wasn't in the mood for any more surprises. She definitely wouldn't tolerate another secret. "Why are you being weird?"

"Yeah." Naruto frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I just..." Kakashi shook his head, the frown still plastered on his face. "I feel... odd."

Kakashi took a step towards Naruto, crouching down slightly. He narrowed his eye as if seeing Naruto for the first time – as if he wanted to take in every detail he had so far missed. "I remember meeting you when I was a child," he said, slowly. "But why did I... I didn't..."

Kushina's eyes widened. "What else do you remember?"

"Nothing!" Kakashi burst out, his voice rising in volume. "That's the issue. I've known him since I was a teenager. Why don't I have any other memories of him until a few weeks ago?"

Rin let out a groan. "This happened before," she muttered, rubbing her temples as if fighting a headache. "This feeling, I... I remember it."

"What do you mean?" Kakashi frowned. "What feeling?"

Rin stole a glance at Naruto. Kushina couldn't decipher it in time. "Look, Kakashi." She hesitated and continued in a slow, careful tone of voice. "Last time Minato came here, you hadn't introduced yourself to Naruto. He didn't know you. At all."

Kushina attempted to swallow down the bitterness the sentence caused. She didn't succeed.

"I didn't even know Dad had a genin team until he told me himself," Naruto muttered.

Kakashi's eye narrowed in disbelief. "What? No, that's not– That doesn't make any–" His eye closed with a groan. "... I don't understand."

"Me neither. Not entirely," Rin admitted.

Kakashi sent a helpless glance towards Kushina. "If it was different before, that means it has changed. Minato changed it. Right? So why do I remember these... Why do my memories contradict each other? How can I forget some of what used to be, but not everything?"

Kushina took her time answering. Minato and she had asked themselves the same questions and they'd done their best to figure out an explanation. Or at least a theory.

"I don't think you're forgetting those things so much as that you're suppressing them," she said eventually. "The future isn't rewriting itself. I– We think that the two versions – what it was like before, and what we changed – are merging, and your mind glosses over the details that make no sense anymore. It's like," she struggled to decide how to phrase the sentence, "It's like reality is trying to smooth over the differences."

Hence Rin forgetting her own death, but reliving it in her nightmares. Hence Kakashi remembering Naruto from when he was a kid, despite not having known him at that age Before.

"It's like remembering something from your childhood," Kushina went on, "but your memory is crap, so you don't remember most of it. Your mind wants to have the full picture. It likes when everything makes sense, so it's filling in the blanks in between the things you _do_ remember. Except here, it's filling them in badly."

Kakashi had paled to a worrying degree, his brow furrowed in alarm. "How do I know which memory is the original and which has changed?"

Kushina felt her expression grow strained. "I don't think there is a way."

She didn't particularly want to think about what it would feel like, finding out about someone else meddling with time and changing her future as they saw it fit.

In a way, Kushina was in an incredibly lucky position. She was the one to make the changes – she and Minato – so obviously from her point of view, she was making the best choices she could possibly make. But standing on the sidelines, being forced to let other people decide about her fate? About the fate of all of Konoha, of her friends, her family? Kushina would never be able to accept it.

Kushina's hand rose to absent-mindedly scratch an itch on her belly before freezing halfway to her jinchūriki seal, realizing what she was doing. She couldn't believe she'd forgotten about it, tear-jerking reunion or not.

"Kushina-san?" Kakashi asked, noting her rigid posture immediately. "Is everything alright?"

She decided she would talk to Minato about it before worrying anybody else. "Yeah." She forced her hand to keep still and twisted her mouth into a smile. "All good. I mean. Besides the obvious." And also the minor fact that the time hopping might have permanently messed with her jinchūriki seal. Oh joy.

"If you say so." Kakashi didn't sound convinced.

"I do say so. Let's go and see if Minato's done yet," Kushina said, brusquely changing the topic despite feeling far from ready to return to the depressing sight of the few remaining members of the Uchiha clan.

 **You're not fine.**

Kushina did a full-body flinch. Immediately afterwards, Rin froze.

 **Kushina, I** – The voice fell silent. _Rin's_ voice did. Rin, whose mouth most definitely hadn't moved. Rin, who'd somehow spoken directly into Kushina's mind.

Rin, who now looked like she was seconds away from bolting.

"What was that?!"

"I'm sorry!" Rin took a step back, her eyes wide. Kushina debated grabbing her arm to prevent her from making a run for it. "It's incredibly intuitive. I didn't mean to."

Kushina made an effort to make herself look calmer.

"Didn't mean to do what? What is," she made a vague hand gesture, "this?"

Rin didn't answer. Kushina debated asking Kakashi, but one look at his puzzled glance quickly made her give up on that plan.

Instead, Kushina concentrated. She reached out to the feeling she'd felt before – that buzzing, pounding feeling inside of her head, a weight in her mind that told her there was more, something trying to reach her. Rather than trying to ignore it, Kushina followed through.

She felt a bond guiding her, pulling her mind towards one direction, pulling her through a sort of tunnel. Pulling her towards Rin. Connecting. Kushina did the one thing she could think of doing. She reached out.

 **What... What is this?**

She wasn't talking through her mouth. Kushina knew, because she didn't feel it moving.

A low, displeased growl vibrated somewhere behind her belly button. Kushina was yanked back as her concentration shattered, and she reemerged next to Rin and Kakashi, a hand flying down to clutch at her stomach and her eyes wide with panic.

The sensation was already gone.

"Your seal's fine," Rin said, quietly.

Kushina didn't like the look in her eyes. "How did you know?" she whispered, keeping her hand exactly where it was.

Naruto latched onto her other arm and Kushina didn't have the heart to nudge him away.

Rin didn't answer immediately. Kakashi no longer looked confused by what was going on and avoided Kushina's gaze.

"Rin," Kushina said, her voice sharp. "How did you know?"

"I know," Rin said simply, her hand pausing on its way to gripping the hem of her shirt. Slowly, inch by inch as if she was fighting against a physical resistance, Rin pulled it up.

By the time her hand came to a halt, Kushina was staring. Her eyes were fixed on the patch of skin that Rin had revealed. As well as the ink decorating it. Kushina's chest hollowed out as the realization left her breathless.

Rin looked like she fought the urge to take a step back. Or maybe to flee, altogether. "Kushina-san, I– I'm–"

"You're a jinchūriki," Kushina said. Her own seal prickled on her skin and she couldn't shake the thought that the fox was laughing at her.

* * *

A/N: Beta'd by the wonderful **To Mockingbird** , **PyrothTenka** and **Igornerd!**

Be a dear and let me know what you think!

~Gwen


	12. Chapter 12

**Time Flows Like Ink**

 **Summary:** After a fuinjutsu experiment gone wrong, Minato is yanked into a future where his family is dead, his team fell apart and the Uchiha were slaughtered. With the defective seal burning in his palm, Minato struggles to stay afloat in a Konoha that isn't his.

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

Somebody started following him after Minato exited the Uchiha compound. If his instincts hadn't been as good as they were, he might have written the foreboding feeling off as the aftereffects of the ghost story he had heard from the survivors of Mikoto's clan.

He knew better than to let rumors and stories impact his efficiency as a shinobi and took the hunch as seriously as he would have a kunai aimed at his turned back.

He needn't have bothered. Whoever it was, they did not care about keeping themselves hidden.

"You told the truth," the stranger said – going by their voice, Minato suspected a man – his voice quiet and muffled through an ANBU mask. In contrast to most ANBU Minato knew, he wore long sleeves that covered his tattoo.

Minato weighed his options and decided to stay. For now. "The truth about what?" he said, stepping closer to the ANBU. He wondered if this was yet another shinobi sent to keep an eye on him – and why, if that was the case, he had decided to reveal himself so easily.

The ANBU shifted from foot to foot and fidgeted with his hands. "No, not truth," he mumbled, his voice almost too quiet to hear. Minato frowned at the clipped, incomplete sentence. "Not all. Lie. Excuse. Hurt... Hurts."

Minato deliberately didn't let his confusion show. He wasn't sure if the ANBU – rather the stranger, as Minato's suspicion grew that he was no ANBU at all – was talking to himself or simply struggling to express himself.

"Who are you?" he asked, attempting a different approach.

The stranger's posture relaxed but his voice remained agitated. "Not him."

"... Okay," Minato said carefully.

"Not him," the stranger repeated, more urgently. "Not... Never. Never him."

"Okay," Minato agreed, more firmly this time.

He paused, taking the time to take in his counterpart more thoroughly. It was second nature to Minato to pick up signals from the people around him. He couldn't not. The issue was that none of the stranger's social cues made any sense.

He wore an ANBU mask, but held none of the confidence or subtlety that an ANBU operative carried. He made no effort to hide his body language, or else did not know how. The oddest part: even with his body language on full display, Minato could read nothing from him. Everything the stranger did, everything he gave off, felt disjointed and odd.

His feet stood apart confidently while his upper body was hunched over. His voice showed agitation when his hands rested calmly at his sides.

His chakra meanwhile had a dampened, fickle feeling to it, as though he did not have good control over it. Minato was skilled at gauging an opponent's threat level, and despite his unpredictability he did not sense any danger coming from the stranger.

Before Minato had the chance to speak, the stranger's body language changed yet again. Tension bled out of his shoulders and left him in a calm, almost lazy posture. It did not fit the voice, nor the tone that came with it. "You're not supposed to be... I... I'm not... Not here."

Minato latched onto the statement before the stranger could get distracted again. "Why not here? What is it?"

"Don't want to."

Minato blinked at the childish answer. "What don't you want?"

The stranger hunched in on himself, his voice taking on an agitated quality. "No. Can't. Won't." He tugged at his hair as though he wanted to comb out knots with his hand. His fingers brushed against the rim of his mask and he let his hand drop, clenching it into a fist. "I won't!"

Changing tactics, Minato matched his own demeanor to the one of the stranger. He took on a softer, kinder tone. Almost as though talking to a child. "You don't have to do anything," he said, his voice careful and soothing. "Can you tell me who you are?"

The stranger went still. "There are no orders."

This time, Minato had to stop himself from flinching. The body language that had him so confused was gone. There was no stutter. No hesitation in his voice. Most concerning of all: Minato was no longer able to estimate how dangerous he was.

"No orders," Minato repeated, rethinking his decision of not having signaled for backup. "You weren't ordered to be here, then?"

The stranger didn't move out of his confident stance. His voice came as a hoarse whisper. "Soon. Will be. Soon." The stranger's head jerked around as though he had heard something.

Despite knowing better, Minato followed his gaze. When he turned back, the stranger had moved closer.

"Meet. Outside village. Answers."

Minato hesitated, his body tense, and subconsciously reached for a Hirashin seal. "You... want me to...?"

"Answers," the stranger repeated, looked at something past Minato and disappeared in a blur.

"Wait–" Minato tried, far too late.

When Minato turned and saw Kushina, he didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed.

"Kushina," he greeted, trying not to let his frustration show. The feeling vanished as soon as he realized her solemn expression. "What's wrong?"

She hesitated, which was enough to make alarm bells go off in Minato's head. "I'll tell you when we're home. It's about Rin." Upon seeing his alarmed expression, she added, "She's fine! Just... There's something you need to know."

Kushina jerked her head in the direction the stranger had disappeared to, signaling the change in subject. "Who was that? Their chakra signature was all over the place. I couldn't get a grip on it at all."

"I don't know," Minato admitted, fighting the belated urge to run after the stranger. Even though Minato had a bigger chance of catching him than most other people, it felt like a trap. "He said to meet him outside of Konoha. He promised me answers. I think."

"Meet him? When?" Kushina's frown deepened, following his gaze. "Do you even know who he might have been?"

"I don't," Minato said, feeling like a broken record. "And he... didn't say. He just told me to meet him."

"Well, you're obviously not going to do that."

Minato didn't answer.

"... You're kidding."

"He wanted to tell me something!" Minato said, feeling defensive all of a sudden. "It just... seemed like he didn't know how. Or like he thought he wasn't allowed to."

"Because that doesn't sound shady at all." Kushina opened her mouth to say more, but sighed. "Let's talk about this later. I just... really don't feel like it right now." When she looked up, her eyes were heavy and tired. "Your mystery guy didn't even tell you when to meet, right? Who knows when he'll be back. And if it's really important, he'll come back himself."

Minato didn't want to let the matter rest that easily. He wanted to find out more.

But he didn't like the look in Kushina's eyes. She'd found something out that was burdening her, Minato could tell.

"Let's go home for now," he decided, pushing the stranger to the back of his mind.

* * *

Kushina and Minato laid curled up on the tiny couch in Naruto's apartment, empty cups of ramen next to them and Minato's hands in Kushina's hair, combing through it lazily. She didn't peek, but Kushina was fairly certain she could feel the beginning of a braid coming together.

Both of them had needed the break. With Rin and Kakashi having left to inform the Hokage, and Naruto on his way to look for his teammates, the two of them had taken the opportunity to let themselves breathe and digest all the new information they had learned.

"You don't know if she was like this from the start, do you?" Kushina asked, breaking the silence with a question that had been nagging at her for a while.

Minato paused. He tugged a strand of her hair free from her ear and pulled it back. He was definitely making a braid. "No. I'm sorry, it just didn't occur to me. I don't think she would have necessarily thought to tell me, with everything else that has been going on."

In other words, there was no way for them to find out whether Rin had been a jinchūriki the last time Minato had come back, or whether it was a new development. Rin might not have told him, Minato hadn't thought to look, and Rin wouldn't remember whether it had changed, now.

"We'll have to ask her for details of how it happened," Minato said. "Otherwise we won't know what we need to change."

Kushina felt her face pulling into a scowl. "Why do we need to change it? There's nothing wrong with the way she is, now."

"There's nothing wrong with her being a jinchūriki," Minato agreed, his hands faltering momentarily. "It is wrong for her not to have had a choice in becoming one. She was kidnapped and sealed by force, Kushina. Nobody deserves that."

Kushina didn't answer. She didn't want to admit it, but the thought of having another jinchūriki in Konoha – other than her son, who would one day take over hosting Kurama from her – was a temptation she had never really considered before. She liked the thought of having someone to relate to. She liked the thought of not being alone with her burden.

But was she selfish enough to condemn Rin to that fate when there was a way to prevent it?

Kushina squirmed in discomfort when it took her longer to come up with an answer than it probably should have.

There was a knock on the window, and before either of them could do more than look over, Rin had slipped through. "You shouldn't talk about people behind their back like this," she said quietly, sporting her by now typical neutral mask.

"I'm sorry," Minato easily amended. "We were just collecting our thoughts. We weren't going to make any decisions without you."

"Good." Rin sat down in front of the couch, rubbing the hem of her shirt. "I've had enough of that to last me a lifetime."

Kushina craned her neck to share a glance with Minato. His brows were knit in an unhappy frown.

"We might be able to prevent it from happening," he said, his voice cautious. "If that's something you want."

"It can't have been easy," Kushina forced herself to say. "Especially not with me – with us – gone."

She could imagine what Rin's life had looked like after her sealing and Kushina's death. Konoha would have lost a valuable player in her – it would have lost their trained, adult jinchūriki – so the pressure for Rin to take her place would have been massive.

Kushina had grown up with the Kyūbi since she was a child. Rin had been a teenager, and would have had a far more difficult time learning to control her powers. Had there been anybody to teach her? Or had she had to learn everything by herself?

"You might not have to go through all of that," she added, feeling less reluctant about the offer. If there was a chance to make Rin's life easier for her, what kind of person would Kushina be to deny her?

"I already did," Rin said, still not meeting their eyes. She hesitated. "I don't want you to change it."

"Are you sure?" Minato asked, his voice gentle but insistent. "You could get rid of that burden."

"I don't know what kind of person I would be without it."

Kushina wasn't certain how easily they'd be able to change such a huge aspect of her life, anyway. Even if they managed it, would Rin be reminded of the experience in her nightmares for the rest of her life, just like she dreamed of her death? Would she ever be able to forget the feeling of carrying a demon inside her? Would she forget the pain it had caused her? Or the burden it had placed on her shoulders?

Rin chewed her lip, picking at her shoulder where her ANBU symbol was tattooed. "Maybe this is for the best. It's better now, that you two are back." Before either of them could remind her that their presence was temporary, she added, "And now that I know Naruto, maybe I can help him. Make it a bit easier for him."

Easier than it had been for her, she didn't say, but Kushina could read between the lines.

Rin had just given her another reason to feel selfishly glad for her burden. Even if Kushina wasn't there for him, Naruto would have another jinchūriki to guide him.

The grave atmosphere was broken by someone knocking on the front door. Rin looked towards them in a question and, after getting a nod of confirmation, pushed herself to her feet to open it.

"Oh, hello, Rin-sensei," a girl with bright pink hair said. Wasn't she the other member of Naruto and Sasuke's genin team? "I was actually looking for Kakashi-sensei. Is he–" Her voice trailed off as she caught sight of Kushina and Minato, and her eyes widened.

"He's not here." Rin pretended as though the girl wasn't blatantly staring at the other two occupants of the room. "You'll have to look elsewhere."

The girl didn't move. And kept staring. Just when Kushina felt the urge to drop an unflattering comment, she stuttered, "Rin-sensei. Is that... Are, are those..."

"Why's she calling you 'sensei'?" Kushina interrupted, raising an eyebrow at Rin. Considering how utterly opposed she'd been to the mere idea – according to Minato, at least – Kushina found this detail somewhat puzzling.

Kushina had to squash the urge to rub her eyes in disbelief as Rin's cheeks turned pink. She looked away as though not meeting their eyes would hide her blush. "This is Sakura. She was assigned the same genin team as Naruto and Sasuke."

While confirming her suspicions, Rin had not actually answered Kushina's question.

"And?" Minato arched a brow. "How does that translate to her calling you 'sensei'?"

"Because she is!" Sakura piped up, an eagerness in her voice that suggested she was ridiculously pleased to be able to answer their questions. "Well, kind of. She's actually Sasuke's instructor. But we train together a lot, so I get to call her sensei, too."

The color of Rin's face deepened as both Minato and Kushina turned to look at her. "It's... not like that. I'm not actually– I mean–" She sighed, caving to the urge to bury her face in her hands.

Kushina decided to have mercy and kept her overly excited grin at bay. "I want to hear all the details. Kakashi and Rin, both jōnin instructors. Oh, I can't wait to see what you taught these two."

"Have you been sharing the responsibility?" Minato asked, sporting a smile himself. He made no secret out of his own joy at the revelation.

Rin raised her head, her cheeks still flushed a soft pink. Her expression took on a more serious note. "You took Naruto with you. Kakashi couldn't keep his genin team once it was incomplete."

Kushina's grin slid off her face as suddenly as it had formed. "Kakashi lost his team?"

Rin opened her mouth as though her first impulse was to reassure her. She paused and seemed to change her mind. "Yes. This is the alternative we found so he could keep teaching them."

Kushina shared a dismayed look with Minato. Bringing Naruto with him had been an accident, but she could still see guilt reflected in his eyes. His throat wobbled as though he had trouble swallowing past it.

"So," he said, his voice oddly subdued, "You took Sakura and Sasuke as your apprentices?"

"They would have gone back to the academy, otherwise," Rin said, confirming Minato's words indirectly.

"It's alright." Sakura's voice had lost some of its thrill as she had picked up on the dampened mood. "It all worked out in the end, didn't it? Kakashi-sensei's a great teacher. I know that Sasuke's happy with Rin-sensei, too."

Kushina's brows rose at their choice in students, and she made a mental note to ask about it, later. She'd thought that Kakashi would have been the first choice to train a clan member like Sasuke, especially considering that in this version of the future he had kept the Sharingan.

"Besides, we're training together so often that we might as well be a full team," Sakura added. "If Naruto's back and Rin-sensei and Kakashi-sensei teach all three of us, hardly anything will have changed."

Rin looked ready to protest this conclusion. "That's– That's not how it–"

"That sounds like a wonderful plan," Minato agreed, his smile covering up his prior dismay. "Kushina and I would be happy to join and give some pointers ourselves, as long as we're here."

Sakura's face lit up at those words. Kushina was certain that if she was slightly more of a civilian than a shinobi, she would have fainted on the spot, rather than beam at the two of them brimming with excitement. "Will you tell us stories about you? Pretty please? You're famous, both of you!"

Kushina felt a pleased smirk settle on her lips. "Oh, I've got tons of stories. I'm sure the history books haven't got even half of them."

Going by Minato's wary expression, he knew exactly which kind of stories Kushina was talking about. Oh well. He would just have to live with the fact that the longer Kushina spent in the future, the less people would remember him as their wondrous, awe-inspiring Yellow Flash. How they had ever managed to get that wildly inaccurate image of him in the first place, Kushina would never know.

"By the way, Rin," Minato said, changing the topic before Kushina could give Sakura a first taste. That coward. "Did you see Naruto on your way here? Or you, Sakura?"

Sakura shook her head as Rin said, "He wanted to look for his team, right? Sakura's here, so chances are he's with Sasuke right now."

Kushina shared a glance with Minato. They had yet to talk to either of Mikoto's sons.

"Let's see if we can find them," Minato decided, standing up from his seat on the couch.

Kushina supposed that this meant her hair would have to wait. She bundled up the half-braided mess in her hands and tied a hair band around it without bothering to untangle it first.

"Alright, let's do this," she said, flashing Sakura a grin that almost made her swoon. She'd have to check for herself what in the world those history books were saying about them. "Lead the way, you two. It's about time to reunite your team."

* * *

A/N: Beta'd by the wonderful **To Mockingbird** , **PyrothTenka** and **Igornerd!**

Be a dear and let me know what you think!

~Gwen


	13. Chapter 13

**Time Flows Like Ink**

 **Summary:** After a fuinjutsu experiment gone wrong, Minato is yanked into a future where his family is dead, his team fell apart and the Uchiha were slaughtered. With the defective seal burning in his palm, Minato struggles to stay afloat in a Konoha that isn't his.

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

They must have made quite the picture, marching through Konoha without sparing their surroundings so much as a glance. Rin and Sakura had taken the lead, although Sakura kept throwing glances behind her as if assuring herself that Kushina and Minato were still following along.

As adorable as her starstruck hero-worship was, if she didn't get over it in the foreseeable future, Kushina would have to help her along. Only a short amount of time spent with Minato was enough to realize just what a dork he was, so she was carefully optimistic that she wouldn't have to resort to drastic measures.

They heard the argument before they saw it. Naruto stood to the side, silent for once, while Sasuke exchanged heated words with no other than Jiraiya. He'd barely changed since Kushina had seen him last.

"– just saying," Jiraiya said, pinning Sasuke with a frown, "do you really want this to continue like it has? I'm trying to help you move past this, so if you just let me–"

"I already have. Just not in the way everybody seems to want me to." Sasuke's hands were clenched at his sides. His face was scrunched up in a glare. "Just leave me alone. I don't need you to try and meddle with my life."

"I'm not trying to make your decisions for you." A trace of frustration entered Jiraiya's voice, and it sounded like he was holding onto his patience with all his might. "I'm just saying, if you gave him a chance–"

"He's had his chance," Sasuke interrupted. "He had the chance to make a difference, and he's the one who decided not to take it. You only need to look at the Uchiha district to see where it's taken us."

"I think you're giving your brother too much credit here. He's capable of many things, but I hardly think he could have made a difference all on his own."

"He could have tried." With those words Sasuke turned, an oddly dispassionate expression on his face. He paused as he caught sight of Kushina and the others, but he quickly caught himself.

"I'm not done talking, Sasuke," Jiraiya said, but was interrupted by a quiet voice.

"Leave him be. You should not have tried to force him."

Kushina heard Minato sucking in a sharp breath next to her. She hadn't noticed Itachi up until this point, either.

He stood a few steps behind Jiraiya, partially covered by his frame – not as though he was trying to hide, but as though he was moments away from drifting away from the conversation.

"I don't get it." A frown was marring Naruto's face. "Didn't you want to kill your brother?"

Kushina heard Minato let out a sigh behind her while Jiraiya's startled expression twitched to their son. Kushina herself was suppressing the urge to bury her face in her hands. It would appear that their son had inherited her own sense of tact.

Sasuke gave Naruto an odd look. "Why would I want that? He's not worth my attention." His voice gained an edge. "He's not worth anything. He abandoned us when we needed him."

"Sasuke," Jiraiya snapped, apparently reaching the end of his patience. "I've heard enough of this."

"I don't care what you say." Sasuke glowered at Jiraiya. "You won't change my mind."

With that Sasuke stalked away, leaving behind a troubled-looking Naruto, a frustrated Jiraiya, and Itachi, who hadn't so much as batted an eyelash at his brother's accusations.

There was a beat of silence before Jiraiya sighed. "Itachi, look–"

"It is alright. I do not mind." Itachi gave Jiraiya a smile. "Thank you for trying, but I have already told you that there is no need."

Both Itachi's words and his facial expression suggested that he wasn't bothered by what had happened. However his smile looked empty.

"What was that about?" Minato asked, following Sasuke's retreating back with his eyes.

Jiraiya didn't startle. Naruto had already made their return to the future known, so he was not surprised to see them. He did, however, pause as his eyes found Kushina. "... Welcome back. You brought Kushina."

"You didn't seriously expect me to stay behind, did you?" Kushina's cheerful tone fell flat in the subdued atmosphere Jiraiya and Sasuke's argument had left behind.

"What did Sasuke mean?" Minato asked, pressing for answers.

Jiraiya's expression was conflicted. "It's... It's complicated. There's something you should know before–" Jiraiya trailed off as Itachi met his gaze. He sighed. "I guess it's not really my story to tell."

"Sasuke blames me for what happened to our clan," Itachi admitted quietly.

Kushina had thought as much from Sasuke's accusations. He hadn't been subtle about them.

"Does he have a reason to?" Minato asked.

Itachi paused as he picked up on Minato's neutral expression.

Kushina wished he wasn't being so obvious about it. Considering Itachi had been a murderer in the last version of the future, she didn't blame him.

"I was unable to aid our clan because I was on a trip with Jiraiya-sensei."

Jiraiya sighed. "We were on a lot of training trips around that time. We were... away from Konoha a lot." Just like you asked us to, went unsaid as he spared a glance at Minato.

"My brother does not forgive me for not being there when our clan needed me."

Kushina doubted that a single incident – even as major as this – was enough to sway Sasuke's opinion against his brother to such a degree. The seed of his negative feelings must have been planted prior to it. Perhaps he had begrudged Itachi for the time he spent away even before the massacre?

Jiraiya frowned at Minato. Rather than the guilty expression one might have expected, Minato's brows were creased in thoughtfulness.

Kushina understood. They'd been confronted with plenty of grief and regret since travelling through time – Minato even more so than her, seeing as it wasn't his first trip. They'd have plenty of it still to come – but not in this case. Not when they were finally collecting enough clues to begin figuring out this jigsaw puzzle of a future.

"If you want to interrogate my student, just say it outright," Jiraiya said, a frosty quality to his voice that startled Minato out of his musings.

Surprise flickered over Minato's face before he managed to suppress it. "That wasn't what I was trying to imply." He hesitated. "How much do you remember about my last visit? About Konoha during that time?"

"Only flashes," Jiraiya replied curtly. "But I've been training Itachi for years. It doesn't matter what kind of person you knew him as then, because he isn't that person now."

"I still need to figure out what happened to him, last time." Minato kept his voice quiet. "I need to puzzle out what changed, and why. So that it isn't going to happen again."

Jiraiya paled, his expression going grim as he realized that was a very real possibility. Losing the edge in his voice, he said, "Ask what you want. I'll answer what I can, but it isn't much."

"I cannot recall much of it, either." Itachi admitted. "I am afraid I will not be much help."

Minato didn't seem surprised that Itachi seemed to know all about their jumps. Jiraiya must have explained it to him.

"Any piece of information will help," Minato said, his tone towards Itachi considerably softer than before.

Kushina realized that another person had left. "Where'd Rin go?" she asked, somewhat impressed that she didn't notice her leaving.

Jiraiya cast a brief glance around but didn't look as though he expected to see her. "I think I know where she's gone."

* * *

Rin found Sasuke sitting on her porch and stroking Airi's head. Airi didn't purr – she never did – but instead curled up next to his leg and nestled her head against Sasuke's knee.

Seeing as she kept coming back only because Sasuke insisted on feeding her, Rin found it somewhat ironic that Airi was still considered Rin's cat. She barely even tolerated Rin.

"Her leg's worse," Sasuke said without looking up. "I think she got into another fight."

"She should know better by now." Rin sunk onto the porch next to Sasuke by folding her legs underneath her.

She reached out with a green glow around her hands, frowning as Airi soundlessly bared her teeth in warning.

"She's going to help you," Sasuke muttered, making her settle down with brief, gentle strokes of her fur.

Rin's second attempt was tolerated, if not particularly appreciated.

Rin worked in silence as neither of the two attempted to speak. She didn't mind. Neither of them were chatty people, and they'd spent considerable chunks of their training sessions silently. If it had bothered them at the start, it certainly didn't anymore.

Rin paused in her work after the bulk of the injury was healed and she was certain that nothing complicated had been damaged. She scooted over and gave Sasuke a nod.

Sasuke hesitated but didn't protest. He furrowed his brows and managed to manifest the same aura of healing chakra after a few seconds of deep concentration. Rin watched as he proceeded to heal the superficial part of the injury himself.

Something small wriggled in her chest, a spark of emotion Rin tentatively identified as pride. "Well done," she said once Sasuke had lowered his hands and would no longer be distracted by her words.

Kakashi hadn't agreed with her at first, insisting that Sakura's chakra control made her a better candidate to become a medic than Sasuke. While he wasn't wrong, Rin had seen Sakura's shortcomings. She was lacking in most of the basics – everything other than being booksmart – and Kakashi was better suited to help her overcome them quickly.

Sasuke meanwhile needed focus. His anger made him frustrated and reckless. Channelling that anger into something precise, something complicated like healing helped. It already did.

"Jiraiya thinks he's doing what's best for you," Rin told him. "But he's biased. He has Itachi's interest in mind, too."

Sasuke scowled while he kept petting the cat. "He doesn't know me. He shouldn't be trying to make decisions about my life." He hesitated, and his scowl softened as he raised his gaze at Rin. "What do you think I should do?"

Rin couldn't think of an answer at first. She wasn't used to being someone who gave other people advice. She wasn't used to being looked up to and respected. The only reason she didn't send Sasuke to Kakashi with these sorts of questions was because she knew he was just as hopeless as she was.

"I think you shouldn't allow anyone to pressure you," she settled on eventually. "You don't want to make up with your brother. That's fine."

Sasuke chewed on his lip. "Everybody says I shouldn't hold grudges. There's so few of us left. They say I can't afford to split us up even further."

"It isn't your job to hold your clan together by yourself. Not reconciling with your brother will not break the rest of them apart."

Sasuke's eyes were pinned on the ground. He neither agreed nor disagreed.

Rin fought to keep a scowl off of her face. She'd always had trouble expressing herself. She wasn't the right person for this job.

"Your clan members want you to be happy," she started, her voice slow and hesitant. "They want you to make up with your brother because they believe you will be happier when you're united. They want to help you."

"... I know that."

"But you know what makes you happy better than them. It is your choice, not theirs." Rin hesitated. "Not Jiraiya's choice, either. Or your brother's."

"It feels like Itachi's the only one who hasn't tried to make me forgive him," Sasuke muttered.

They sat in silence, absentmindedly petting the cat between them. They stayed that way until Airi decided she'd gotten her fill of attention for the day and stalked away – hopefully not about to pick another fight immediately after getting her leg healed.

"Let's go back," Rin decided, pushing herself to her feet. "They'll be waiting."

Sasuke pursed his lips. He neither spoke nor moved from his spot on the porch.

"Your brother won't have stayed," Rin assured him. "He was only there because of Jiraiya."

Sasuke hesitated. His trust in Rin won out, and he climbed to his feet next to her. "Fine. Let's go."

* * *

"Sasuke's back!"

Naruto followed Sakura's thrilled exclamation and turned in time to see her skip towards Sasuke with a beam. Sasuke didn't react, but he didn't move away from Sakura, either.

Naruto wondered if the only reason he hadn't made a run for it yet was because the old guy and Sasuke's brother were no longer there. Sasuke looked reluctant to be there as it was – how had Rin even managed to convince him to come back? – and considering the argument they'd had earlier, Naruto doubted Sasuke would voluntarily spent more time with either of the two.

Naruto didn't really get it.

The whole time travelling thing was confusing even without people showing up to be part of his life he hadn't even known before. There were his parents – his amazing, wonderful parents who hadn't left him because they didn't want him but because they hadn't had a choice. There was the old guy – Jiraiya – who was apparently his godfather and staying in Konoha more often now. Perhaps even permanently?

Then there were Rin and Kakashi. Naruto wasn't entirely sure which of them was going to be teaching him from now on. He'd thought it would be Kakashi, but then he'd gone back in time with his parents and everything had changed yet again! He didn't even know if he was still part of a team.

Naruto remembered then that he had people to ask these questions now. "Hey, Dad," he said, stepping closer to his father and getting a thrill out of saying the word 'Dad'. "If Kakashi is teaching Sakura and Rin is teaching Sasuke, who's gonna be my teacher?"

"Well," his father started, "now that your team is complete, I expect you'll be trained together. Maybe Rin and Kakashi will share the responsibility."

Naruto's expression lit up. He'd hate to have to choose between the two. They were both super amazing ninja, so being taught by not one of them but both was clearly the best possible solution.

"Hey, Sakura!" Naruto called, bouncing on his feet. "So what's Kakashi-sensei like as a–"

He trailed off when he realized that Sakura was already talking.

"– means well, but he doesn't know what he's talking about."

Sasuke's arms were crossed but he didn't try to move away from Sakura. Nor did he tell her to stop talking.

"Jiraiya-san has known your brother for years," Sakura went on. "It's only natural he'd want to protect him."

"I know," Sasuke muttered, his brows furrowed. "You don't need to tell me that."

"I'm just saying, he doesn't actually want you to–"

"I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"I– I just–" Sakura trailed off. "Okay. Sorry for bringing it up."

Naruto watched the interaction with a mixture of puzzlement and apprehension. This, like so many other things he'd known, had changed as well.

The Sakura he knew wouldn't have talked to Sasuke without blushing or squealing. She definitely wouldn't have tried telling him he was wrong about something. And the Sasuke he knew wouldn't have listened to Sakura in the first place. At the very least he wouldn't have responded.

Naruto realized then that Sasuke and Sakura had several weeks of training together that Naruto had missed out on.

Naruto clamped his mouth shut and tried not to let it show on his face what he was thinking. Did he even have a place in the team?

"Let's talk about something else," Sakura muttered, although she didn't sound happy at the prospect. Her eyes fell on Naruto and she paused, biting her lip. Naruto tried not to squirm under her gaze. "Um... So, Naruto. Did somebody teach you while you were gone?"

"Erm. Kind of? Mom and Dad both showed me some stuff." Not as much as he'd like, seeing as there were so many other things they'd had to do.

"Really?" Sakura's eyes lit up. "That's so cool, what did they show you? Was it chakra exercises? Rin-sensei taught us a couple just recently."

Naruto wasn't entirely sure how to respond to Sakura's sudden enthusiasm. "Y-Yeah? Yeah, something like that."

"How about we swap? You show us the exercises you learned, and we show you ours. We can practice them together!"

All of his prior thoughts vanished as excitement flooded his chest. "Duh! You need to show me everything I missed! I'll catch up in no time, you'll see."

There was no way he'd fall behind his two teammates, no matter their head start. Naruto would just have to train harder and longer than the both of them, and soon all three of them would be as crazily strong as his parents were!

* * *

The thought of the stranger in the ANBU mask wouldn't leave Minato alone. He didn't know what it was, but something about the man lingered in his mind. He'd asked Minato to meet him outside of the village – away from curious ears, and away from people like Kushina who might interrupt – a request that could so easily turn out to be a trap, Minato would be a fool to follow it.

He couldn't get the thought out of his mind. A trap or not, what if the stranger had information that would help him?

"Just send a shadow clone," Kushina tried reasoning with him, exasperation carried along in her tone. "If you're really going to do this, at least be smart about it."

"And what if he does attack and dispel my clone? I won't be able to catch up to him before he's able to flee."

Kushina let out a sigh. "You won't use a shadow clone. You won't let me come along. Should I tie one of your hands behind your back too, to make it even easier for them?

"I can handle myself," Minato said, refusing to take the bait. "You know that. And the only reason I'd like you to stay is because if it does turn out to be a trap, I don't want both of us getting caught up in it."

"You mean _when_ it happens." Kushina shook her head, although her resolve seemed to be crumbling. She didn't seem overly concerned, which told Minato that she did have faith in his capabilities. "Just don't start whining when I tell you 'I told you so'."

If he was to choose between fighting his way out of a trap or missing something vital in his quest to change the future, it wasn't a difficult decision to make. It was clear which of them scared Minato more.

The stranger hadn't told him when and where they were supposed to meet (other than outside of the village), and Minato had almost definitely missed him by now. If the meeting was as important to the stranger as it had seemed, he must have left a message or some sort of clue for Minato to find.

Instead of a message, Minato was greeted by a chakra signature melting out of the trees and the stranger planting himself directly in front of him.

Minato stared. "Did you wait here the entire time?" he blurted out, leveling disbelieving eyes at his counterpart. What would he have done had Minato decided to come the next day? Or not at all?

How had nobody spotted him? They weren't far off from the village, well within the perimeter set by their guards.

"Came," the stranger mumbled, holding his arms stiff at his sides. "Knew you would."

Minato furrowed his brows. "Why did you come to the village?" he asked on the off chance that the stranger's thoughts were less scattered than they'd been earlier. He had, after all, promised Minato answers.

"You told us."

Minato's frown deepened. "Told who? Who's 'we'?"

The stranger did not answer. He peered over his shoulder as though he was waiting for someone. Or else reassuring himself that they were alone.

"Why are you here?" Minato took a step closer. He sharpened his voice, hoping that a harsher tone would get through to the stranger. "Tell me. Why did you come?"

"Commanded," the stranger whispered. He had talked about orders before.

"You have orders to be here," Minato guessed. "You didn't before, but you do now."

Which meant that somebody had communicated with him since the last time Minato had seen him. Somebody had either sent a message, or had hidden close to Konoha's borders, waiting to pass along the stranger's orders.

A sense of foreboding settled heavily in Minato's gut.

"Those orders," Minato started, "what are they?"

Leaves rustled close to them and Minato tensed, prepared to jump into action as soon as backup charged at him – Kushina had been right, of course she had, obviously the stranger wouldn't have come alone. Minato had suspected as much.

It was just a cat.

A delighted gasp startled Minato out of his interrogation mode.

"Look! Kitten!"

Minato stared as the stranger crouched down and held out one hand towards the wild cat. The cat gave him a disinterested look and ignored him.

"I asked a question," Minato said carefully.

"But look! She's so cute!"

"Very cute," Minato agreed, "and I'm sure you'll have time to... um... take a look at her, once we're done."

The stranger's shoulders slumped in disappointment. Minato couldn't stop himself from staring.

The stranger's personality was whimsical and contradictory. Everything currently about him spoke of a child – his gestures, the way he talked, even his chakra: unpolished and rough as though he had not yet learned control over it.

Minato knew that as soon as he tried talking to him like a child his behavior would, once again, change.

"Can you try to focus for me?" Minato asked instead. "This is important."

The stranger sighed, casting a wistful glance at the cat.

"Can you try to answer me?" Minato pressed, watching as the cat lost interest and disappeared in between the trees.

"Won't like," the stranger mumbled, straightening out of his crouch and stretching his arms in a relaxed manner that didn't fit his nervous tone.

"The answer?" Minato asked. "I promise I won't be angry, no matter what it is." He paused, waiting for the stranger to say something. He didn't, so he added, "Whoever gave you your orders, what did they command you to do?"

The stranger looked at him calmly, expression hidden by his stolen ANBU mask. He no longer fidgeted, nor did he get distracted. "Kill."

Minato ducked. A dagger sliced the air where his throat had been. Minato hurled one of his kunai and teleported as it reached its mark. The stranger changed direction before he'd even completed the technique, expecting the move.

Minato's heart pounded in his chest and he stayed on the defense as he reevaluated the situation.

The stranger knew him well enough to anticipate his fighting moves. His chakra signature had changed – something that shouldn't be possible – had warped from its ragged, unpolished feeling into something sharp and dangerous.

Talking was no longer on the table.

Minato dodged a kunai, several senbon and a swipe of the dagger in rapid succession. He contemplated retreating to the village but decided against it. If this person was as dangerous as their unhinged, unpredictable nature suggested, Minato wouldn't risk luring them towards other people.

"Fine," Minato muttered, noting the lack of taunts and the single-minded focus of his opponent. "Let's do it your way, then."

He pulled out more of his specially-made kunai and threw them in the air, spreading them out among their battle field.

The stranger mirrored his move with regular kunai and threw Minato's off their course. They buried themselves into the ground in a cluster, rather than widely apart as Minato had intended.

"You're familiar with my fighting style," Minato noted, attempting to lure a reply out of the stranger.

He was more than familiar, in fact. Many people knew of his signature moves, while only few had ever tried to come up with ways to counter them – successfully, that was. Minato hadn't earned his flee on sight order for nothing.

Minato was constantly developing new moves. Few of them had yet been seen by anyone other than Kushina and his team.

Minato grabbed for more of his kunai and charged.

* * *

A/N: My betas are **Igornerd, To Mockingbird** and **PyrothTenka**! Go check them out, they're all wonderful writers!

Please take the time to leave a review!

~Gwen

PS: I'm gonna take a break from writing while I settle back into work. I can feel that burnout creeping up (I've been writing every day and posting a chapter of a story every 5 days for _over a year_. I didn't really expect to make it that long, tbh.) and I rather wouldn't risk it. I hope to be back soon, so please be patient!


	14. Chapter 14

**Time Flows Like Ink**

 **Summary:** After a fuinjutsu experiment gone wrong, Minato is yanked into a future where his family is dead, his team fell apart and the Uchiha were slaughtered. With the defective seal burning in his palm, Minato struggles to stay afloat in a Konoha that isn't his.

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

Kushina followed the noise of clashing kunai and splintering wood, idly wondering whether she should feel a little more concern and a little less exasperation caused by the ridiculously predictable turn of events.

Upon entering a clearing, she watched Minato leap out of the way of a dagger aimed to sever his jugular and decided that no, exasperation was a perfectly fitting emotion to feel in this sort of situation.

The next time Minato felt the need to follow a stranger's cryptic (if not outright insane) mumblings to a place obviously meant to isolate him, Kushina wouldn't let him go, no matter what he said to try and justify it.

Kushina swerved in to block one of the stranger's attacks, dropped to the ground to dodge the responding blow and placed seals on the ground during the time it would have taken another person to blink.

Minato threw a kunai behind them, grabbed Kushina and teleported back just in time to avoid the blast her explosives caused.

"I told you so," were Kushina's words of greeting. She watched as the stranger evaded her attack unscathed. "What have we got?"

"He's fast," Minato started, rattling off his observations without wasting a second on protesting her presence. "He's not afraid to put himself in the line of fire and is very difficult to hit. He favors weapons – kunai, senbon, daggers and a tantō thus far – and he hasn't shown an affinity for any elements yet. He's using close to no ninjutsu in general."

Kushina nodded, accepting his assessment. "Weaknesses?"

"He prepared counter attacks for my techniques and counted on facing me alone. He likely hasn't done the same for yours."

"Good." Kushina set her brows in a firm line. "Let's overwhelm him."

Minato didn't make her ask twice.

His frame blurred as proof of the moniker he'd been given, too fast for the eye to perceive. Chakra chains surged with the force of projectiles, forcing the stranger to dodge while Minato's kunai buried themselves in the ground and the trees around them.

Their opponent was quick, Kushina had to give him that.

A kunai hit the bark next to her feet and Minato appeared. "He's got too much room to dodge."

Kushina hummed. "Not for much longer."

Her chains hissed like snakes, digging into the trees around them to resemble a jungle. She and Minato had plenty of practice navigating around them. The stranger didn't.

It went on like this, Kushina and Minato working in tandem while the stranger struggled to keep up with the change of pace. He didn't utter a single word – rare, seeing as a majority of shinobi loved to hear themselves talk during battle. Kushina couldn't help but notice that even considering their advantage in numbers, she and Minato spent a suspicious amount of time on the offense and not nearly enough time dodging.

Kushina was no stranger to strategic battle, and while she preferred the hands on, spontaneous sort of fighting, she was decent enough at assessing her opponents and drawing conclusions.

She didn't need to be a genius like Minato to come to her conclusion: the stranger wasn't trying to win. He hadn't been doing so since the second Kushina had shown her face.

"Minato," she muttered after another maneuver made the stranger retreat further, but he didn't retaliate in any way.

"I know."

Minato threw another batch of kunai and missed, the stranger showing off his speed by evading each and every one of them. Rather than pressing his advantage, he withdrew further. Why was he still there, if he wasn't planning on going all out?

It was obvious at this point that the stranger was outclassed. His only possible path to victory was a quick, efficient barrage of attacks that got in a killing blow before Kushina and Minato had the chance to adapt.

Failing that, he would have to decide that the battle was lost and retreat. He hadn't so far made an attempt to flee.

Why was he staying? His half-hearted, evasive tactic held no chance of an outcome other than tiring himself out.

It almost felt like he was humoring them. Like he was going through the motions, playing his role because it was expected of him and not because he held the hope of a favourable outcome.

Kushina was not a patient woman. She wasn't willing to play a part in whatever game he thought he was playing.

"Cut the crap," she said, intentionally missing the stranger with a chakra chain and shattering the tree beside him. She paused, keeping herself from starting another attack. "What's your problem? Why are you putting on this charade?"

The stranger's movements cut off abruptly as though strings attached to his limbs had been cut.

"You noticed," he muttered, quietly so that Kushina almost missed it.

She startled at his tone. Rather than disappointment over being found out, she could make out relief in his voice.

"No point in staying."

Kushina's eyes widened.

The time it took Kushina to set her body into motion and sprint after the stranger was enough for him to disappear from sight.

"Kushina!" Minato's hand closed around her wrist and refused to budge, forcing her to come to a halt next to him. "Kushina, wait. Kushina! Let him go."

Kushina growled in frustration. "What are you on about?! We're losing him!"

"Think about this." Minato met her stubborn gaze with irritatingly calm eyes. "He's good, Kushina. We didn't get in a single hit the entire fight. He knows our fighting styles, both of them."

"So what?!" Kushina yanked her hand out of Minato's grip. "He didn't get in a hit, either. There's plenty more we can throw at him. Tons of techniques we haven't tried so far."

"And just how long are you planning to pursue him?" Minato's lips pressed together firmly. "He's not working alone. He implied so on multiple occasions. We could be charging right into a trap by going after him. Besides," Minato's gaze grew tight, "we don't know when the seal is going to drag us back."

"You just want to let him escape?!" Kushina's voice was pitched incredulously. "You were the one who wanted to talk to him in the first place. Now you just want to wait in case he shows up another time?"

"So you're okay with being dragged back without saying goodbye to Naruto?"

That gave Kushina a pause. "We'd be coming back," she pointed out, already feeling her resolve falter.

"It might be weeks before that. Maybe longer." Minato looked into the direction the stranger had disappeared into. "We'll figure this out. But we'll do it on our terms, not on his."

"Fine," Kushina grumbled, resisting the urge to express her displeasure and kick a nearby boulder.

The stranger would be better off not showing his face again any time soon. The next time, even Minato would not be enough to talk Kushina out of hunting him down.

* * *

The trap they'd set up with Mikoto snapped shut on the very same day Minato brought Kushina back home with him.

Convincing Kushina that it was best to leave Naruto in the time he belonged turned out easier than Minato had imagined. Bringing him along to the past hadn't been intentional in the first place, and shielding him from the changes by dragging him along wherever they went wouldn't be fair to anyone.

Explaining this to Naruto, in a similar fashion, wasn't particularly difficult either.

"You need to go back to make sure everything works out, right?" Naruto's lips pulled into a smile, attempting to put on a brave face and succeeding only marginally. "You're gonna make sure you stay alive after I'm born?"

"That's the goal," Minato said, his smile feeling as strained as Naruto's looked. "If everything goes like we want it to, you'll never have grown up without parents in the first place."

Naruto's frown suggested that the notion was too difficult to imagine. Regardless, he gave a nod.

Kushina pulled both of them into a vice-like hug that made Naruto grunt and Minato wince from the force of it. "Don't do anything stupid while we're gone," she said, tightening her grip around Naruto. "Make sure to eat plenty of veggies and get lots of sleep. If Kakashi and Rin are being dumb again, kick their butts in my place. Play nice with your team, and oh, if you ever need–"

"Kushina," Minato interrupted, gently tugging at her sleeve.

"I know! I know!" She let go of their son reluctantly, her hands hovering over his shoulders as though she was suppressing the urge to cling to him. "Just, take care of yourself. We'll be back. Either in a couple days or weeks, or... well..."

Kushina fell silent, her expression growing strained even as Naruto's eyes lit up at the thought of growing up with Kushina and Minato alive and well.

For him, the outcome would be a dream come true.

Minato swallowed against the lump in his throat. As wonderful as the idea of raising Naruto as a family was, it would mean that they wouldn't ever see this version of their son again. They'd watch him grow up and shape his life in a way they weren't allowed to do thus far, but the Naruto they'd gotten to know would be gone.

They'd caused significant changes to the timeline before, but this felt different. It felt meaningful in a way that made Minato actually consider the alternative.

He pressed down the notion forcefully. It would be worth it, as long as it meant giving Naruto the childhood he deserved. He couldn't allow himself to be selfish.

Besides, he'd get his happy ending. All of them would.

* * *

An ANBU guard tracked Minato down only shortly after their arrival in the past. Minato had teleported outside the village and entered it through the front gate to support the cover story they'd created.

"Hokage-sama," she greeted, briefly scanning his body for injuries and finding none. "I trust your mission has been successful?"

"It was," Minato confirmed, slipping into the excuse they'd made up seamlessly. "I'd like to keep the details to myself before our report is finished. Kushina is already working on it."

More like she was having the time of her life shamelessly stringing together the adventure they'd supposedly had during their absence. An adventure that would undoubtedly entail heroic deeds and an only narrowly avoided death – or several. Jiraiya would be proud of her, Minato was sure.

"Very well." With the pleasantries out of the way, the ANBU felt free to move onto more serious matters. "Danzō-san has requested your presence as soon as you came back. He claimed it is of the utmost importance."

Minato hummed, furrowing his brows. Danzō had always preferred to keep himself in the background. He'd never been happy with Minato taking over the Hokage's position from Sarutobi. "Tell him that he's welcome to come to the Hokage's office. I'm on my way now."

"No need." The ANBU guard avoided his gaze. "Danzō-san has decided to head to the office as soon as he heard of your return. He'll be waiting for you."

Minato raised an eyebrow. "I see."

He didn't appreciate the rather presumptuous gesture. It spoke of Danzō's confidence that whatever he had to share would be important enough to warrant Minato's immediate attention.

Minato dismissed the ANBU and made his way to the office. He'd been about to do so regardless, and he wouldn't change his plans merely to prove a point to Danzō – even though a small, petty part of Minato wanted to do exactly that.

"Hokage-sama." Danzō greeted him with a small bow that threw Minato for a loop. "Welcome back."

Minato returned the gesture in the form of a nod. "Danzō-san." Danzō rarely addressed him by his title. "You requested my presence."

Danzō's voice was brusque in a way that was almost considered rude. "May I speak plainly?"

Minato gestured for him to continue. "By all means."

A mix of hesitance and regret entered Danzō's expression, and Minato's sense of foreboding grew.

"I'm afraid that you were right." Danzō shook his head mildly. "Your suspicions about the Uchiha clan have proven correct."

Minato kept his expression carefully neutral.

"I have reason to believe it is even more dire than we had feared," Danzō continued.

It had been Mikoto's idea to use her clan as the bait for their ruse. Minato's "suspicions" were of course entirely made up, privately "entrusted" to those villagers who had the influence to cause genuine harm to their village structure, were they inclined to do so.

Only somebody who wished the Uchiha harm had the motivation to fall for their ruse – that, or somebody so desperate to gain favor from the Hokage that they would willingly throw an entire clan to the wolves.

Of all the words one could use to describe Danzō, "desperate" was not one of them.

"I've collected proof during your absence." Danzō still did not meet his gaze. He played his part as bearer of regretful news well. "We cannot go about this as we have up until this point. Perhaps the Uchiha have been given too many liberties."

Mikoto, Kushina and he had speculated whether whoever was involved in the Uchiha massacre had been harboring distaste against the clan years before it would happen.

Was this their answer?

"This is troubling news," Minato said, furrowing his brows in false thoughtfulness. "I'd hoped my intel had been wrong."

"As did I," Danzō agreed. "I regret saying this, but... they might be forcing our hand."

Minato hummed, forcing a layer of reluctance into his voice. "What do you suggest? I wouldn't want to make any rash decisions."

"I understand your hesitation," Danzō was quick to reassure. "But as I said, I fear we may not have a choice in the matter. I believe our only chance to prevent escalation is to suffocate the conflict at its core."

"Escalation is the last thing we need," Minato muttered, turning away from Danzō as though the sentence hadn't been meant for him. He hesitated, letting out a deep, tired sigh. "We have plenty of conflict brewing outside of our borders. We cannot afford to have more of it in our midst."

"Difficult decisions must be made if we wish to hold the peace in our village."

"Nobody ever claimed being Hokage would be easy," Minato added.

Danzō met Minato's gaze properly for the first time. "I am gratified that we share the same perspective, Hokage-sama. Lesser men have neglected their responsibilities to the village because they haven't been able to make the hard choices."

Minato wondered if Danzō was talking about Sarutobi.

"We may share the same perspective now," Minato said, jumping at the opportunity Danzō unknowingly offered. "It would be hypocritical for me to claim that is has been the case from the start."

Danzō paused. "I'm afraid I don't quite follow," he admitted.

"Allow me to say it plainly then." Minato leaned forward just a fraction. "My friendship with Mikoto has likely clouded my judgement. Perhaps it has for a long time."

The pause that followed was longer than the first. "It is regrettable," Danzō said, "but understandable considering the circumstances. We are only human, and prone to making human mistakes."

"What I'm saying is that I may not be the right person to determine our next course of action."

"Who then?" Danzō asked. "Somebody needs to act. Soon, if we are to prevent something worse."

"Yes." Minato curved his lips in a smile. "And I believe you are the most suited person for the job."

Danzō straightened up in his seat. "I am honored, Hokage-sama. Truly."

"Is that a 'yes'?" Minato asked. "Can I trust you to act in my stead and do whatever is necessary to stabilize our situation?"

"Whatever it takes," Danzō confirmed. He stood and sunk into a bow. "I will report my progress shortly."

Minato watched Danzō head for his office door and made no move to stop him.

Just short of leaving the office, Danzō paused and met Minato's eyes one last time. "I would not have expected this of you, Minato-san," he muttered, and he disappeared down the hallway before Minato had the chance to reply.

* * *

Minato began to realize that he'd miscalculated when after 24 hours there had been no consequences from giving Danzō free rein against the Uchiha.

Danzō's intent had been clear. Minato's order had given him the freedom to do whatever he wanted – whatever he felt _necessary_ – against Mikoto's clan. So far, there'd been nothing. No arrests, no interrogations, no action whatsoever taken against what Danzō had attempted to paint as a serious threat to the village.

"Does he suspect anything?" Mikoto asked, her voice clipped and her expression tight.

"I don't know."

"Did you let anything slip?" Kushina was pacing restlessly, her brows furrowed.

"I don't know," Minato repeated, trying not to let frustration seep into his voice.

"Let's check in on him," Kushina said, impatience making her sound jittery. "I have a really bad feeling about this."

If Danzō wasn't suspicious already, he would almost definitely be once Minato, Kushina and Mikoto came barging in on him out of nowhere. Minato didn't protest for the simple reason that his own gut was screaming at him to act.

They found Danzō's office door ajar and a couple ANBU already inside.

"Hokage-sama," one of them greeted, doing a double take at the sight of him. "We were just about to send someone to notify you."

Minato entered the office with a sinking feeling in his gut. Kushina and Mikoto followed in his wake, and if his ANBU were surprised at their presence, they didn't show it.

A single glance was enough to conclude that Danzō's office had been swept clean. A couple sheets of paper lay abandoned on the table and the floor, and most drawers were ajar. Emptied. Not a single scroll was left in the storing unit Minato knew to have held dozens of them before.

Minato closed his eyes.

"Should we mobilize an ANBU squad?" the shinobi asked. "Depending on whether they find Danzō-san, this might not be a mere case of espionage. In case of an abduction–"

"A retrieval," Minato corrected, cutting his subordinate off. "You will treat this disappearance as a voluntary act of treason unless told otherwise. Send out a squad and inform them that Danzō will likely resist once found. Dismissed."

His shinobi were trained too well to question such a blatant dismissal. Minato let his shoulders slump and rubbed his eyes as soon as the three of them were alone.

"He knows," he said gravely, unable to come up with a more optimistic alternative when the facts spoke for themselves.

At his sides, Kushina and Mikoto stayed silent.

* * *

A/N: My betas are **Igornerd, To Mockingbird** and **PyrothTenka**! Go check them out, they're all wonderful writers!

I'm back! :) I hope the chapter was worth the wait - I'm glad to be back to regular posting!

Please take the time to leave a review!

~Gwen


	15. Chapter 15

**Time Flows Like Ink**

 **Summary:** After a fuinjutsu experiment gone wrong, Minato is yanked into a future where his family is dead, his team fell apart and the Uchiha were slaughtered. With the defective seal burning in his palm, Minato struggles to stay afloat in a Konoha that isn't his.

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

Minato officially stripped Danzō of his rank only shortly before he revealed his time-travel abilities to his most trusted advisers.

Danzō wasn't stupid. He could have easily crossed several village borders by now (although Minato doubted he would stray far from Konoha), and there was no guarantee they'd manage to find and apprehend him before Minato was dragged back into the future. The least Minato could do was leave him with as little influence as possible.

If Danzō was truly responsible for the Uchiha massacre like they suspected, Minato was confident that he no longer had the power to go through with his plans.

If he wasn't responsible, Minato would know by the time he returned to the future. Even then, Danzō's actions had proven that he was guilty of something, even if it was something other than what they currently suspected.

"Of all the people to discover the secret to time travel," Shikaku said after a brief run down of their situation, "it doesn't surprise me that you did it by accident."

"Fuinjutsu accident indeed," Inoichi muttered, shaking his head mildly. "I suppose it was only a matter of time until you got tired of regular explosions."

Minato mustered a smile.

"Why didn't you share this information sooner?" Fugaku's brows were furrowed, his expression sporting his typical scowl. Minato knew not to take it too seriously.

The others kept shooting both of them looks that weren't half as subtle as they probably thought they were. Minato didn't know if most of them were simply surprised or outright wary that he'd invited the Uchiha.

"I felt it safer to keep as few people involved as possible while the technique was new," Minato replied. Mildly defensive, he added, "There weren't any protocols telling me what to do in a situation like this."

"You did involve Uchiha-san." Ibiki's comment wasn't quite an accusation, but it was close.

Mikoto raised an eyebrow before Minato had the chance to answer. "It was somewhat inevitable seeing as he crash-landed in his own living room while Kushina and I were having tea."

Kushina snorted at the memory. She leaned back in her seat carelessly, sporting none of the tension almost everybody else around the table did. "You were always terrible at keeping secrets."

"It's too late to change anything," Shikaku said. "We know now. That's got to be enough for the moment."

Fugaku's lips twisted in displeasure, clearly willing – and tempted – to pursue the argument further. His eyes flickered towards Mikoto and he gave a brief nod.

"Alright," Minato said, trying to collect his thoughts. "Let's keep going."

"I believe we'd all be interested in learning why exactly Danzō is currently on the run and being pursued by ANBU." Shikaku's statement was followed by unanimous nods of agreement and hushed muttering.

Minato supposed Danzō was as good a place to start as any.

"We have reason to believe that Danzō's had plans to splinter Konoha's clans and divide the village for years." Minato hesitated and realized that his accusations wouldn't make sense without the whole picture. He suppressed a sigh, preparing to tell them most – if not all – of what had transpired on his various trips to the future.

The knowledge of what had happened to the Uchiha gained him a mixture of shock and stoicism. Fugaku in particular didn't move a muscle – although Minato thought his expression looked too rigid to be natural.

The massacre lead into the question of its culprit – Minato decided not to mention Itachi for the sole reason of not wanting to derail the conversation entirely – which lead into the trap they'd used to discover whoever had been pulling the strings in the background.

"So that's what the briefing was about," Shikaku murmured.

A couple people around the table looked disgruntled at having been put to the test. None of them voiced their thoughts, which Minato was glad for. There were plenty of other things he'd have to explain himself for without adding this to the mix.

"You used my clan as bait," Fugaku said, glowering at Minato and unknowingly proving his thoughts correct. Fugaku's eyes twitched towards Mikoto and he added, "Our clan."

"Yes. Our clan." Mikoto didn't shy away from Fugaku's gaze. "It was my idea. I made the decision."

Minato didn't correct her, even though her words weren't entirely true. Mikoto may have supported – and helped coming up with – their plan, but it had been Minato's idea initially.

"It was the most efficient way of tempting the perpetrator to reveal themselves," she continued. "Every additional person aware of the plan would have posed the threat of revealing it – intentionally or unintentionally." She paused. "We decided not to take the chance."

Fugaku gave a reluctant nod. He clearly didn't appreciate being kept in the dark, but he couldn't deny the logic in her words.

"So, just to make this clear," Inoichi said, letting guarded eyes wander around the table as though he wasn't sure which of them to address. "Danzō swallowed your bait, so now you think he's responsible for the... the massacre. Or will be."

Minato hesitated. "Maybe not quite," he allowed. "The massacre wouldn't have happened until several years from now. It would be premature to say he must have been planning it this far in advance."

"But he's clearly guilty of something." Kushina crossed her arms, a grim look on her face. "He wouldn't have had a reason to make a run for it otherwise."

"Danzō has never made a secret of his animosity towards our clan," Mikoto added. "He may not have acted on it thus far – as far as we know – but would you be truly surprised to find him capable of it?"

Inoichi let his eyes stray off uncomfortably. "Perhaps not," he muttered.

"We've established his guilt," Shikaku said, "though perhaps not – yet – his crime. What comes next?"

"We find him," Kushina said. "We interrogate him. We punish him." She shrugged. "Sounds easy enough to me."

"Try not to underestimate him." Minato pursed his lips, hoping Kushina (and none of the others) were taking the matter too lightly. "He may have no more power in the village officially, but some people remain loyal to him."

"If he knows what's best for him, he'll have crossed several country borders by now," Inoichi muttered.

"I doubt it." Minato shook his head. "I may not know everything Danzō's been up to the last few years, but I'm certain he's loyal to Konoha. At least he thinks he is. He won't flee if it means being too far from the village."

"We'll spread out, then," Ibiki said. "We'll comb the forests, search the nearest villages. We need to apprehend him before he has the chance to regroup."

"Agreed." Minato allowed himself to feel pleased with the subordinates he'd picked to carry out his orders. None of them wasted time doubting his assessment of Danzō. "I want to make it clear that these orders are to be carried out, regardless of whether or not I – or Kushina – are in the village. Even if both of us are pulled back into the future, you are to keep looking for Danzō and hold him until the time we return. Is that understood?"

There were general sounds of agreements and no protest. Minato settled back, momentarily content with his shinobi's cooperation.

It didn't take long until the conversation took an unpleasant turn.

"You haven't told us much about the future," Inoichi noted, curiosity underlying his words. "Nothing except the worst parts of it."

Chōza's expression brightened up. "What are we like? Our older selves?"

There was a pause.

"There's not much to tell," Minato said. "I, uh... I didn't exactly spent much time with you."

Inoichi's brows shot upwards. "Are we dead?"

"... No. No, you're not dead."

Inoichi shared a puzzled look with his old teammate. "Why not, then? Wouldn't you have needed us to tell you about the future? You were stranded there, weren't you? Who explained everything to you?"

Minato felts his answers becoming curt. Something prickled at the back of his throat, something unpleasant trying to worm its way out. "My students did, mostly."

Minato made the mistake of catching Shikaku's gaze. He made another, tearing his eyes away too forcefully.

"I see." Shikaku's brow twitched. "What did we do?"

Shikaku's mind was an immeasurable asset on most days. It was somewhat regrettable that Minato couldn't shut off his perceptiveness at will. "Something entirely unrelated. It is of no consequence."

"If it's bad enough to make you avoid our future selves," Shikaku insisted, "I believe we'd be better off knowing about it."

Minato saw in Inoichi and Chōza's faces that they wouldn't let it go. He set his mouth in a firm line and decided to make it quick. "Our son grew up on his own after Kushina and I died. I have yet to meet anybody capable of giving me an adequate answer as to how something like that could have happened."

Kushina squirmed in the seat next to him.

"Wait." Inoichi's expression had taken on an alarmed shade. "Are you saying that–"

Minato interrupted him with a sigh. "I'd really prefer not to go into details. This isn't the time."

It also became more difficult to draw the line between the people who'd let him down and those that had yet to do so. Would knowing about their mistakes make them change them in the future?

"There are more time-sensitive issues to take care of," Mikoto added quietly.

Kushina said nothing. It was probably for the better. Minato wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of Kushina's wrath – especially not about something that genuinely mattered.

"... If you're sure." Shikaku's lips pressed into a thin line. "For what it's worth, I think we should talk about this properly. Later, after everything else is taken care off."

Minato had trouble concentrating on what was being said afterwards. Once he'd started thinking about Naruto, it was difficult to pull his attention away again.

Their goal was to fix all of the issues they'd thus far encountered in the future, one of them being that both Minato and Kushina would survive to see their son grow up. They wouldn't be shinobi if they didn't consider the possibility of one – or even both – of them failing to make it out of this mess. They needed to take precautions.

Jiraiya had been named Naruto's godfather once, and as much as he meant to Minato, he'd failed to step up to the responsibility spectacularly. Minato wouldn't be making the same mistake twice.

He told Kushina as much after everything was said and done, and the two of them were on their way home. Mikoto had told them to go ahead; she planned to catch up to them after a chat with her husband.

"You want to pick someone else," Kushina said after Minato had finished catching her up on what he was thinking.

"Jiraiya is important to me," Minato said, frowning down at his feet. "I'll always be thankful for everything he's done for me."

"But you don't want to make him Naruto's godfather anymore."

"He left him behind, Kushina." Minato's frown deepened. "He left the village and got wrapped up in his spy work, and he... he didn't even introduce himself to Naruto. He didn't tell him anything about us, either."

Kushina hummed. "He was in the village when you brought me back," she pointed out.

"True. But I didn't exactly give him a choice that time."

Kushina came to a halt and forced Minato to do the same. She caught his gaze. "I agree. I just wanted to make sure you'd thought this through."

Minato gave a humorless laugh. "Feels like I haven't been doing anything but."

Her lips pulled into a wry smile. "Fair enough."

The two of them always agreed on the things that really mattered.

"So," Kushina continued, "you've got someone else in mind?" She turned her head to the side. Mikoto seemed to have finished whatever it was she needed to discuss with Fugaku, and was now steering towards them.

Kushina looked back at Minato and smiled. "Because so do I."

* * *

Days passed without any progress being made in their hunt for Danzō. Despite Minato and Kushina turning all of their attention towards the manhunt, they came up empty.

Minato's next jump to the future came closer with every day, and he worried.

"We don't even know what he was planning before. We definitely don't know what he's planning now that he's gotten suspicious." Minato said. His brows were furrowed and his lips pinched tightly. "We can only assume how he was involved in the massacre."

"We'll catch him," Kushina assured him easily.

"What if we don't?" If Danzō remained free, who knew what kind of damage he could cause with years to spread chaos?

Minato hesitated, knowing that his next sentence wouldn't be well received. "I'd feel better if I went alone this time around."

Kushina's expression scrunched up in protest, and Minato hurried along before she could get in a word.

"If I had a choice, I wouldn't be going, either. Not until we manage to catch Danzō." He opened his hand and frowned down at his seal. "I don't have a choice in the matter. You do."

"It's a risk either way," Mikoto agreed. "It would be foolish to put more of us in danger when we're needed right here."

Kushina's frown didn't lessen, but she didn't outright reject Minato's request. She sighed, carting through the pile of sealing paper she went nowhere without. "I'll keep experimenting in between our search parties. We need to get some sort of control over that thing."

Minato wholeheartedly agreed. Being dragged through time unwillingly wasn't an experience he'd like to continue for the rest of his life.

If nothing else, they needed to find a way to deactivate it once they managed to build their ideal future.

And they would. It didn't matter how many attempts they needed to make if it eventually led them to their perfect, happy ending.

"Look on the bright side," Minato said. "If I'm lucky, I'll see one of you in the future. Maybe you'll both be there." Minato beamed as another thought crossed his mind, and he turned towards Mikoto. "I'm looking forward to seeing our sons being closer."

Mikoto returned his smile in that soft, composed way of hers. "I'd be surprised if they weren't, considering."

Mikoto had been taken aback at their request to make her Naruto's godmother. She'd agreed regardless after Minato and Kushina had assured her that it wasn't a spur of the moment sort of decision.

It was true that as things were now, Mikoto wouldn't be alive to see past Naruto's seventh birthday. This, as one of many developments of the future that Minato and Kushina simply would not accept, wouldn't be the case for much longer.

(Besides, seven years of growing up loved and cared for was still better than none. Minato didn't say it out loud because it didn't matter. They'd save Mikoto. They'd save themselves, too.)

"There are more people who know about the time travel now," Kushina said. "Even if the same thing happens as last time," meaning even if Kushina and Mikoto still died, "there are people who will be expecting you to come. Maybe they'll be able to help."

"Danzō might be one of those people," Minato pointed out. He may have missed out on Minato's debrief due to his impromptu escape from the village, but there was no telling how many spies of his remained in Konoha.

Kushina's brows furrowed. "Worst case, he'll have years to prepare a trap for you."

"We can't afford to not expect the worst," Minato muttered. The thought was sobering, to say the least.

"Even if Danzō manages to evade capture and uses the time to prepare," Mikoto said, "we've got time as well."

"Exactly," Kushina said. "So what if he makes plans to get revenge on you? He'll be far too busy dealing with us, first."

"Most villagers with influence are on our side," Mikoto added. "He'll have a hard time trying to go against all of them."

Minato wouldn't be surprised if Danzō had connections outside of the village as well as within it.

Meanwhile, Sarutobi remained inactive even after everything that had occurred between Danzō and the rest of them. Minato hadn't invited him to the debriefing for a reason. He'd had a private, subdued meeting with him beforehand, one that had proven to him that while Sarutobi did not know any of what Danzō was planning, he didn't particularly want to know, either.

If he'd wanted to, Sarutobi could have proven a serious hurdle for them despite his retirement. He'd chosen to remain uninvolved, and Minato was glad for it.

"There's nobody else I'd trust more to have my back," Minato told his wife and his friend, sharing a smile Kushina would have deemed 'dopey', if asked.

Kushina scooted closer to the two of them, a look of determination on her face. "Doesn't matter what he's trying to do, cause he won't succeed," she said, leaving no room to believe otherwise. "We won't let him."

Minato believed her. It was difficult to look towards his next trip with dread, knowing the sort of people who were looking out for him.

* * *

A/N: My betas are **Igornerd, To Mockingbird** and **PyrothTenka**! Go check them out, they're all wonderful writers!

Last chapter for 2019! :D Hope you'll all have a lovely start into the new year!

Please take the time to leave a review!

~Gwen


End file.
